Fractured Promises
by Corpasite
Summary: The youngest of them was unknowingly a mirror of them all. What is the world like when that mirror is fractured? What happened to shatter it and the lives connected by it? Church is a place to confess your sins, a place to be judged, and a place for forgiveness and redemption.
1. Promises

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 _ **New York, July 13**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2022**_

Brown hair flutters in the breeze as the doors are opened and a pair of crystal blue eyes watches the muscular form of Chris Redfield enter the large church. He nods politely at a few people, shakes a couple of hands, but never hugs anyone, not even the overzealous crying women that men would normally throw themselves over to hug. She sighs as he crosses the entire church, noticing that his normally hazel eyes are leaning more toward blue these days and are fixed on her form.

He shakes hands, nods politely, but hugs no one, no one except for Rebecca Chambers, "Hey, Chambers… How are you holding up?"

"Good," she chokes back a sob as her arms wrap around his waist, "as can be, given the circumstances…"

Chris does what he has always done when they've had a tough mission and he knows Rebecca needs the comfort, he wraps a hand around her neck and pulls her face against his chest, "You can let go here, you know? I'll protect you from their evil, prying eyes." He looks around defensively before offering her a light chuckle, "No one will see the great Rebecca Chambers cry today."

 _I'll protect you…_

- _ **February 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **, 2000**_ –

The orders were strange, almost like they were spoken by someone else through the man in the nice suit, but she follows them, especially with the offer of 'great leaps in research' on the table. She stares out the window as the car drives her through the narrow streets of downtown Manhattan. Lithe fingers twirl the nylon lanyard around the plastic badge given to her the moment she climbed into the vehicle and it pulled away from her apartment. There is a bit of a bump as the car enters an underground garage, Rebecca cursing herself for not paying better attention to where she is being taken. S.T.A.R.S. trained her better, but here she is, in an unknown location, taken there by unknown people, for an unknown purpose.

"Miss Chambers, a pleasure," the hand that escorts her from the sedan is clad in a black leather glove and wrapped in an expensive dark gray suit, "welcome to our facility…"

The brunette huffs and places her left hand on her hip, "Exactly who are you and whose facility is this?"

"Due time, my dear," the older gentleman smirks and escorts the scientist through the garage and into an elevator, where he then presses a button for one of the lower floors.

The ride is silent, Rebecca knowing that asking any questions isn't going to garner her any answers, "Here we are, Miss Chambers."

Metal doors give way to white walls and bright lights, so bright that she has to shield her eyes from them as the pair navigates the numerous hallways and turns. Eventually she is lead into a brand new and clean laboratory with equipment that looks to be so far beyond state-of-the-art Rebecca swears for a second they have stepped into the future. Robotic arms move around the room, setting up samples, moving them between containers, just moving about on their own with no one to guide them.

"So exactly what will I be researching in this lab, Mystery Man?" her hands automatically slide along the counters and tables, touching the machines, and just taking it all in.

Her mysterious benefactor smiles and crosses his arms, leaning against the doorframe, "The future. There have been some radical advancements that have come into our possession and we would like you to study them, find out what makes them all work and how we may best use them."

Every single fiber of the Rebecca Chambers from S.T.A.R.S. is throwing up red flags, but little scientist Rebecca, the one standing in this lab now, she nods her head without fail, without hesitation, "Alright, you sold me… What am I working on?"

- _ **New York, 2022**_ —

Rebecca watches the crowd move, reshape, bend as people greet other people, men and women shake hands, exchange embraces, and comfort their tears. She watches it all through distant eyes, almost like looking through a telescope, judging the people, trying to determine how many of these 'grievers' actually knew the deceased. Blue eyes start separating the people into two groups: those who knew her, and those that think they did. The ones who actually knew the dead girl resting in the coffin behind Rebecca are obvious, they aren't crying, aren't openly grieving, as they knew she wouldn't want them to.

"What's bugging you?" the voice is so sudden, so quiet, and so unexpected that Rebecca releases a small squeal and almost jumps out of her skin.

Jill Valentine smiles behind the former medic and crosses her arms, "Holy! My G- Oooohhh, Jill! Why must you be so quiet?"

A wave of the thief's hand dismisses her question, "It's a natural talent, I can't just turn it off. Seriously though, Rebs, what's bothering you?"

Out of every little nickname they've given her, Rebecca can't bring herself to stop Jill from using one, "Nothing, it's a funeral, Jill, I'm allowed to be down, sad, and lost in thought."

"Sure, sure," Jill slowly sips the small glass in her hand, "do you think they'll show up?"

A nod, small, but sure, "Of course they will. They meant the world to her. If they don't, I'm sure we'll all have words to share with them…"

"Ain't that the truth," Rebecca finally turns to face one of her best friends and sighs at the black dress she's wearing.

"How can you make anything look gorgeous?"

The taller woman chuckles and holds up her phone, revealing an image Rebecca spends a little too long looking at, "Before…" a long pause, "Wesker… I had to work so hard to keep my body in shape. Now, it's a curse I must bear, as I don't even have to try anymore… Some running, bit of lifting, that's it."

"As if I couldn't hate your body any more, Valentine…" Rebecca sighs and finds herself happy to have both Chris and Jill here; it's like a mini S.T.A.R.S. reunion.

 _Like family…_

- _ **March 15**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2002**_ —

"Rebecca Chambers, working on skin sample number…" she glances at the label on the dish, "47G. Begging dissection in preparation for DNA breakdown."

The robotic arms move the sample around to the operating table, where a laser cuts a thin layer off the top, "How is my favorite scientist today?"

"I'm doing alright, Gregory. I've noticed the samples are human, barely mutated… Exactly what am I working with?" the layer of skin is moved into a tube filled with a green liquid. "Who am I working with?"

Gregory Tomlin nods and runs a hand through his silver hair, the British accent still heavy, but more tolerable, "You ask that every day, Miss Chambers. I cannot grant you an answer to that right now. Rest assured, my bosses have seen the progress you are making and are very pleased. Keep that up and everything will be yours."

As the layer of skin is dropped into the liquid, it bubbles and dissolves, "Oh, crap… Mister Tomlin, would you be so kind as to grab me a few more skin, blood, and tissue samples?"

She doesn't notice the sick smirk that crosses his lips, "Right away, my dear."

Rebecca looks at the rest of the skin sample as it begins to turn purple, "Just what are you infected with?" the sample mutates and grows in size before finally dissolving away.

- _ **New York, 2022**_ —

Rebecca smiles as Jill saunters over to Chris, dodging the other grievers, _Survivors stick together after all…_

More gatherers attempt to offer their condolences and Rebecca just nods politely and thanks them before returning to her thoughts. Everything she is looking at has a dark tint to it, even the moments where someone shares a joke and a laugh spreads amongst those gathered. The casket behind the brunette medic is open, but she can't bring herself to look at the face resting within. Rebecca feels more responsible for the funeral they are attending than anyone else in the church, well, until HE walks in.

She gasps at the look on his face, the bags under his eyes showing just how little sleep he has gotten lately, his clothes disheveled but definitely a step up from most of the mourners, "Rebecca? It's good to see you again…"

"Yeah, yeah, good to see you, too…" her blue eyes sparkle with fresh tears and he reaches up to swipe them away, a friendly gesture, "Just wish it was under better circumstances…"

Black sneakers, black jeans, a black T-shirt, and that damned jacket with the vertical stripes, it all is brought together by his dark hair, _Why is it getting darker? He can't be dying it, can he?_

Leon Kennedy offers a smile and pulls her into a hug, "I'm so sorry… It's all my fault…"

"No, no!" Rebecca wraps her arms around him tighter, sensing just how close the DSO Agent is to falling apart, "We make our own choices. There's nothing to regret, Leon. Everything happened as it needed to!"

 _Yeah, nothing to regret, right…_

- _ **December 19**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2003**_ -

Rebecca had to be careful, hiding her secret project under windows for other readings and tests, but she finally has her answer; one that terrifies her completely, "I've been experimenting on a fifteen-year-old girl?"

The data doesn't lie, the tissue samples, the blood, it's all from a teenage girl, but that's her age now. When Rebecca first arrived, the girl had to be, what, barely eleven or twelve? She doesn't want to think about it, but she must be working for monsters if they infected a girl with some unknown viral agent. This is why Rebecca finds herself flat against a wall at a hallway intersection, listening for the armed guard to round the far corner. The guard makes the turn and the lithe medic turned scientist quickly shuffles down the corridor as silently as she can, recalling some of the facility layout she memorized from the files she hacked a few hours before.

 _This is a dangerous game you're playing, Rebecca… Why are you doing this?_ She knows the answer: there is an innocent child wrapped up in all this.

She has had a large part in this girl's suffering and she will no longer be a part of it. This might ruin any chance she has of being a scientist, or a professor, or saving the world, but saving one life, just one, that makes it worth it. She perches again at an intersection, almost getting spotted by an approaching guard, but he turns left at another hallway, allowing her to breathe once again. One more turn, that's all she has to do and the good medic is at her destination, staring at a large white door.

 _You can do this_ , the handle is pulled out and the door hisses before sliding open, revealing a small room adorned with a two-way mirror on the opposite wall.

Rebecca stares at the scene before her and feels her stomach turn; men and women sit in this room and observe the girl as she lives out her life in a room that is only double the size of a prison cell. There is no movement in the girl's room, not until a form shifts under the blanket on the bed. Knowing it's wrong, Rebecca steps into the room and sits right up against the mirror, watching the girl as she slowly sits up and yawns. Blonde hair, even with having not seen the sun for at least three years, her hair is still as bright as the sun itself. Startling ice-blue eyes look toward the wall and for a second, Rebecca swears the girl is looking right at her.

The teenager steps from the bed and walks up to the wall, punching it hard, " _What do you want this time? More skin? More blood? How about you take my_ _ **tears**_ _this time!? I want out of here! You should have determined by now that I'm FINE! I'm not infected! The two of them CURED me in Raccoon City!_ "

 _Raccoon City!?_ Rebecca slides back a bit and covers her mouth, this girl is a survivor from Raccoon City.

The news said no one survived the outbreak and nuclear bombing, but she knew that was a lie as Chris reached out to her a couple of weeks later to let her know Jill was there, she survived, she made it out. According to this girl in front of her, there were at least 3 more survivors. Four. Four people out of hundreds of thousands.

" _Has your_ ," the blonde survivor before her turns around quickly from the wall, " _little lab-rats not figured out I'm not a threat to anyone? How much longer must they poke and prod me before I can get out of here and see the world? Why can't I be as free as you all are!? I'm a human being!_ "

"No she's not," the British accent startles Rebecca, but she expected him to find her sooner or later, to discover her plans. "Little Sherry Birkin is not a human being. She is a petri-dish for something called the G-Virus, an unstable viral mutagen created by her father, William Birkin. They may have made the virus dormant, her saviors, but they did not remove it. Notice anything odd about her?"

Rebecca gazes over the young woman before her, noticing there are no scars, no bandages, no blood, "Where did the samples come from?"

"Ah," he smirks and it makes her skin crawl, "that's the thing… The latest skin sample I took for you came from her left cheek. Something has happened in her body and she's bonded with the G-Virus. It's given her remarkable healing abilities, you see."

"And you," the brunette spins and glares daggers through him, "want to isolate that and replicate it? Allow you to make unkillable soldiers? You sound just like Umbrella."

Gregory stretches his neck and adjusts his tie, the smirk no longer there, "We don't want to create bio-organic weapons. We want to fix what's wrong with the world. Imagine what can be cured with this healing ability? We can end suffering! There will never be another incident like Raccoon City again."

"Save it," she spits back at him before trying to walk past him, "I've heard enough of sanctimonious assholes hiding their selfish desires behind selflessness. Every word you allow to escape from your bastard lips makes you sound more and more like the company that destroyed my home."

His next words stop her in her tracks, her blood boiling with each and every syllable, "You leave and I'll find someone else to replace you. Someone who won't be so caring about their subject…"

- _ **New York, 2022**_ -

Rebecca is rocketed from her memories to the present situation as there is a commotion at the door, "Just who the hell do you think you are!?"

"Sir, I'm just tryin-" a form bursts through the crowd, the head buzzed short, almost clean-shaven, and a snarled face accented by a decent scar.

 _Jake Muller…_ Rebecca feels Leon tense, but she just grabs his arm, her own eyes shaking a bit at what might transpire here.

The son of Wesker looks around the large open room, apparently unsatisfied at what he sees, he sits down in a pew and bites loudly into an apple, "Hmph… Guess I'm still waiting…"

Going against every fiber of her being, the pixie medic walks over to the soldier and sits down next to him. The silence is louder than his original outburst, the two of them just sitting in silence, only interrupted by the snap of the fruit as he eats it and glares at the coffin. She knows what he wants to say, can feel it almost like she can read his mind, but she isn't going to push. They are both fighting their own demons with this gathering…

Leon, though, he won't let the silence stand, so he approaches the younger man, offers a hand out, and says simply, "I'm sorry, Jake…"

"Fuck off," the hand is swatted away as the scarred man tosses the apple-core at it, "Kennedy. I'll deal with you and Redfield's sister when she gets here."

Rebecca looks up at Leon and shakes her head, giving him the go-ahead to walk away, "Jake…"

"Don't, Chambers. I don't need that right now," and with that, he produces a pear from one of his jacket pockets and tears into it.

 _We all believed that Claire was the heart of our little family… Boy, who knew we'd be this wrong?_

- _ **March 10**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2005**_ -

It's been fifteen months since Rebecca was first introduced to Sherry Birkin, fifteen months of talking to this teenaged girl and seeing what life has done to her, "Do you know of anyone we can reach out to?"

"Nope," the blonde hair is darker now, a product of not getting any time out in the sun, which contrasts well with her pale skin, "no one."

"Not even the ones who saved you from the death of Raccoon City?" Rebecca wants her own answers, but has been requested by her handlers to try to get her to give up some names.

Sherry glares at Rebecca and sips the cup of hot tea before her, "They're probably dead. Just like everyone else in my life…"

"Hey," Rebecca reaches out and places her left hand over one of Sherry's in a comforting manner, "I'm here now. I'm a part of your life… We'll get you out of here no worries whatsoever!"

"Right," the scientist's daughter huffs and absentmindedly squeezes Rebecca's hand, holding on to it for dear life, "as you experiment on me…"

This comes up every single time they are allowed to talk, how Rebecca is taking samples of her body and causing her more pain, "Does it hurt?"

"Oh god yes," the skinny arms are wrapped around the decently-fed waist, "I feel it all… Luckily, I heal quickly. That's the only blessing here."

Brunette hair covers Rebecca's face as she hangs her head, "I'm so sorry, Sherry… If I don't stay and be the one to discover why you can do what you do, they'll bring someone else in, and I don't know if they'll be as caring as I am…"

"What is the diagnosis so far?"

"You, for some reason, have bonded with the G-Virus on a level I can't determine. Even though it's infectious and mutagenic nature have been made dormant by this mystery vaccine, you can heal and recover faster than anyone on the planet. You are, for all intents and purposes, a miracle, little Sherry."

"So," the teenaged wonder smirks and leans back a bit, "I can't infect people. I won't mutate. You can't discover why I heal like I do. So why am I still here?"

Rebecca stares into the 2-way mirror and sighs heavily, "I don't know, kiddo. I don't know…"

A growl is the only warning Rebecca gets as Sherry screams in anger, picks up her chair, and slams it repeatedly into the wall, "ENJOYING THE SHOW!? I HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER YOU! WHY WON'T YOU LET ME LEAVE!?"

" _ **Where would you go, Miss Birkin?**_ " the voice is not one that Rebecca recognizes, and this scares her to her core.

"Anywhere, absolutely anywhere would be better than here… I'll live in a garbage can or cardboard box," she slides down the glass, gripping the chair to keep her from lying down, "if it means I can see the sun again…"

 _This poor girl…_ Rebecca quickly crosses the room, drops next to the girl, and wraps her arms around her, "Haven't you tormented this girl enough?"

" _ **Her torment ends when you give us the answers we need. Stop dragging her torture out, Doctor Chambers.**_ "

 _I'm… Causing this?_ She doesn't believe it, but for some reason, his words echo through her.

- _ **New York, 2022**_ -

Rebecca doesn't realize she has zoned-out until Jake jumps from his seat and glares at the large double-doors of the church. The sound of a motorcycle engine turning off reaches her ears and it's the only clue she needs as to who is about to walk through the door. Last time that Rebecca saw the younger Redfield sibling, it was when she visited Chris after his return from Louisiana. They exchanged pleasantries and stories of her brother's younger days, which embarrassed Chris to no end of course.

"Leon, might want to go warn her who is waiting…" the agent nods and quickly shuffles through the crowd with skill and finesse she didn't know he had.

Jake clenches his fists, smashing what remains of the pear in his left hand, "Jake, no. Not now. Have some respect…"

Claire enters the church, dressed in black leather pants, red jacket, black shirt, and her usual brown cowboy boots, a fitting outfit for the family, given that Rebecca and Jill are the most over-dressed of the bunch, "Redfield…"

Blue eyes dart toward Chris, waiting to see what he will do if Jake does anything to his sister, but the B.S.A.A.'s shining star just maintains his casual lean against the wall and eyes focused on Jake, "Jake, I'm so so sorry…"

"You don't get to say that to me. Not after what you've done," the words are dark and solid, hitting home as Claire turns away from Jake and looks at the floor.

He reaches out, Leon stepping in and dropping a hand on his wrist, "Don't you dare…"

"No!" the arm is tossed away as Jake pulls his arm back, clenching his fists, "You don't get to say that! You cost me everything. The reason I found to continue living lies DEAD in that coffin!"

"Let's step outside," Leon places a hand on Claire's shoulder, but Jake is having none of that today.

He growls and pulls them both to face him, "Isn't this where you are supposed to confess your sins? In church? Then start," he leans in, "fucking confessing…"

Rebecca watches as Chris pushes from the wall and is about to make a move toward Jake, but Jill holds him back and whispers something into his ear that keeps him from moving more, "Jake… We messed up, we messed up bad…"

"That's an understatement, Kennedy," Jake glares into the pair of eyes he's accusing, "she considered you her parents and you got her killed for it! You BETRAYED her love for you both!"

"Yeah," Leon's voice is dark as he replies, "we got Sherry killed. We are here mourning her… Let's get through this and then we can hash it out in the parking lot."

Jake's face softens at the mention of her name, but Leon is hurt and looking to hurt back as well, "I'll even give you the first shot." His eyes flash, "For free."

He lunges at Leon, growling so loud it grabs the attention of the other mourners, especially Chris, "Enough!"

Jake's hand has a goal of wrapping around Leon's neck, but it only manages to bounce off Chris Redfield's chest, "You need to cool it, Jake. Take a seat, grieve, and," the B.S.A.A. Agent pulls another piece of fruit from inside Jake's jacket, "stuff your damn face in silence."

Rebecca leans against the back of a pew and waits for the powder keg to explode, _Yeah… Sherry was the heart and innocence…_

- _ **August 18**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2008**_ -

"So, I managed to get a gift for you…" Sherry's eyes light up as Rebecca stands in the door to her little apartment.

Over the past year or two the medic managed to get Sherry moved from that single room and into what could pass for a decent apartment. Fully furnished with a kitchen, bathroom, and a bedroom/living room combo, Sherry has taken to it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What? Is it that puppy I wanted?" she shakes her head and pushes her hip off the frame, allowing another woman to enter the room.

There is a long second of trying to recognize each other before both women smile wide and jump toward each other, "SHERRY!?"

"CLAIRE!?" Rebecca smiles and feels the tears build up as the two women collapse into a hug and start crying.

Once Sherry was deemed no threat to the Government and they were satisfied with the fact that they would not be able to replicate the girl's healing powers, Sherry gave Rebecca the names of the two people who saved her. Two things interested her about the names: how Rebecca's handlers recognized the name Leon Kennedy, and that the other name was none other than Chris Redfield's little sister Claire Redfield. It took several months to track her down, even with Chris helping locate his sister, but she finally did it, finally tracked Claire Redfield down through TerraSave with help from someone named Derek Simmons, who finally revealed himself to Rebecca as Sherry's legal guardian.

"How have you been? Do I need to kick someone's ass? Do I need to burn this place to the ground?" Sherry just sobs and shakes her head through every question.

Rebecca steps up and offers some answers, "Everything has gotten better since I was able to actually spend time with her and help her more… Do you want more good news?"

"I could always take more good news, Miss Chambers," it warms her heart whenever Sherry calls her that.

"Oh please, I'm not THAT much older than you, it's always Rebecca…" she bends down in front of the two women and says, "I have the official word. You are free to visit Sherry as much as you like as often as you like! I got the official go-ahead from Derek Simmons to sign you in as a permanent visitor!"

Claire and Sherry exchange glances, then look at Rebecca, and finally return their gazes to each other and cry with happiness, "Thank you, Rebecca. Thank you. Hey, Sherry?"

"Hmm?"

The redhead swats some stray hair from her face and smiles behind tear-stained eyes, "I told you I'd find you again. I'm never leaving you again! You got that?"

"I've missed you so much, Claire… I never got to properly thank you for saving me…"

Rebecca chokes back her own sobs at the happy moment, but there is a dark thought in her mind that she can't escape, _Was I responsible for this taking so long?_

- _ **New York, 2022**_ -

The funeral service started as innocently and normally as it should, but it's when the pastor asks for someone to speak for the deceased that Rebecca snaps to reality, "Um, yes, I have some things…"

All eyes are on the chocolate-haired S.T.A.R.S. medic as she slowly makes her way up to the altar, the pastor smiling warmly at her and offering her the podium, "Hi, everyone… My name is Rebecca Chambers. I first met Sherry Birkin in…"

Almost everyone that is in attendance possibly expects her to answer with some date at max a decade ago, but they are in for a shock, "December of 2003. I was brought in to a Government Facility to help determine the nature of a new virus. In the wake of Raccoon City, the government was overzealous in its desire to prevent it from happening again. For my part in this, I was inadvertently responsible for some of her suffering while she was detained by the very government we all work for… I was enamored by the very virus in her blood, willing to do whatever it took to find the solution. That all changed the day I snuck into the room where she was kept. You all remember her as this happy, hopeful woman, but I met her when she was angry, scared, and alone. That was the Sherry I knew for years."

There is silence as Rebecca takes a second to gather her thoughts and keep the tears down, "I did my best after meeting her to give her a better life. Well, as good as could be in captivity. It was soon after that I first really met the man who claimed to be her guardian," she locks eyes with Leon and frowns, "Derek Simmons. At the time he made me believe he only wanted the best for this teenager, and I believed him, for the most part… He helped me locate the only person that Sherry constantly asked for, Claire Redfield."

Leon scowls at the mention of Simmons while Claire smiles softly at the last part, which spurs Rebecca on to continue, "The only person who spent more time with her than me was Claire, of course, but I kept in constant contact with her, offering my expert medical opinion and also my shoulder if she needed one. I watched her grow from this angry teenager into a wonderfully happy and hopeful woman, my heart filling with pride like a big sister. Because of this connection, I actually have a few letters from Sherry to read to some of you. Now, before you all say anything about private messages, she requested that only a select few of you be in the room."

"The following people need to stay, anyone else needs to leave…" her blue eyes lock with each person as she scans the room, "Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burt- Barry?"

Rebecca looks around the room, easily spotting him amongst the crowd, "I can't believe you made it!"

The grizzled S.T.A.R.S. veteran smiles politely and chuckles lightly as Moira sighs at her father getting spotlight at a funeral, "It was a tough drive, but Moira made it without destroying the truck!"

"I've been driving for years, dad. I'm a fantastic driver," she glances over her shoulder at Leon, "unlike some of us here."

"As I was saying! Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Jake Muller, and Reb- um haha, myself…" the room is silent as those not named quickly leave, unsure rumblings about what is going on filling the air as the doors close.

Rebecca clears her throat and pulls out seven envelopes, stacking them neatly on the pedestal in front of her, "So, I know this entire service is supposed to be about remembering Sherry, but I figured this will be a good way to send her off…"

"Chris Redfield," the medic opens the letter and begins to read it, "before we met in Edonia, you know we met before, right? It was the same day I was introduced to Barry Burton and Jill Valentine. Barbeque at his home, with his wife and amazing kids. You had a presence that just stole the room and I was in awe of it."

Rebecca watches as Jill ribs Chris in the side, obviously saying that it's adorable that apparently Sherry had a crush on him, "I saw in all of you what laid ahead of me if I chose to battle the darkness. Not that it's a bad thing by any means! I was happy to be able to see that the struggle affected you all just like it did me. Made me feel so much less alone in the world. You may feel like you aren't a hero, like you are just a man who is taking up the fight no one else will, but I got to tell you a secret: that's what heroes do. They fight when others won't and they win. Chris, you and Barry are the shields of our little family, don't forget that… You, the shield on the battlefield, Barry the shield at home. I kept fighting, kept training, kept learning so that I could be even a quarter of the hero you ARE."

There, a flash in his eyes before the cold soldier returns, Sherry actually managed to break a bit of the rock that has made Chris Redfield the Shield and Mountain of their group. Jill smiles and the two of them nod at Rebecca, which obviously means, 'thanks and keep going'.

"Next, I have a letter for Jill Valentine," it's quickly torn open after she folds Chris's letter and returns it to the envelope, "Hi, Jill! I can't believe you kept your original hair color a secret from me all these years! Well, I can't believe ALL of you kept that from me. Brunette must've looked awesome and hot on you! Jealous that you look better in blonde than I do, but that's another rant for another letter." The room grows silent at the last few words of that sentence, "The day you took me under your wing, I was certain I'd never master that kick, let alone learn how to pick a lock. Your beauty in the world is only matched by your ferocity on the battlefield. You move like a hummingbird through enemies with a tactical mind that's always three steps ahead. I've envied that since the first day I got to see it in action, but what I envied more was what you share with Chris. That love and belief in each other is the stuff of legends…"

Rebecca chuckles at the next part, looks around blushing, and reads it aloud, "Legends in the B.S.A.A., the D.S.O., and the N.S.A. of course. Whereas the two of you always were talked about with the utmost respect and occasional joke, Jake and I were met with constant groans and shouts of, "Get a room!" Guess we haven't earned that level of respect… Your grace and ferocity have always been a constant object in my life I've striven for since I met you, never ever lose that. Jill, please, keep Chris close, never lose him. He may be our shield, but you are his home and safe haven."

Silence covers the room, Jill holding back tears as Chris pulls her close, resting her head against his chest and his chin on top of her head, smiling at Rebecca and mouthing a thank you, "Next we have," Rebecca swaps the letters and clears her throat, chuckling as the pastor walks up to her with a glass of water, "Thanks, father. Next, we have, Barry Burton."

"I'm so sorry for this, Barry," the brunette pixie stifles a laugh, "Hi, gramps! This letter is for you and your family, so feel free to share it! One of my fondest memories is the weeks of training with you and Jill. Trying to master that blasted kick Jill does was so much harder than learning all those guns and their recoils… You will not believe how useful the recoil knowledge was in Edonia and China. The days were always full of awesome food, amazing knowledge, and fantastic training. Kathy is the absolute best cook in the world and if you weren't already married, I'd demand you marry her right here in this church!"

Chris reaches up and pats Barry on the shoulder, who just chuckles and scratches his graying beard, "Moira, you have no idea how happy I was when Claire told me that you and your father mended fences and were doing well again. I know that my training with your father was hard for you to deal with, especially with Polly around, but I want you to know that your father is an excellent teacher. So, no holding grudges anymore! Hey, gramps, give Polly and Kathy a fantastic hug for me and let them know I love them dearly and will forever consider them a part of my family! Also, I left the magnum you gave me with Claire, she is to return it to you when the funeral service is over. Thank you, again, for everything…"

Moira smiles and looks up at her father, laughing a bit and reaching up to snag the single tear building at the edge of his left eye, "My father, the teddy bear."

"So, I just noticed that there are two envelopes for both of you, Leon and Claire, but only Claire's has a letter in it. So, give me a second to quickly scan it…" her eyes pass over the letter, finding her suspicions to be spot on, "Yeah, she wrote one letter for the two of you… Ooh, I like how this one starts…"

Leon and Claire scoot closer to each other and keep their heads down as Rebecca starts the letter, "I had parents, Annette and William. They created a monster through their passion. Not me, mind you, but the G-Virus. I look back on my memories of them and for the most part they are lonely, but I knew I was loved, as much as they could love me. Now though, now I know I have a much better mother and father in the two of you. Your strength, will, and caring for me got me through Raccoon City basically unscathed. When my time in captivity and the seemingly endless torture almost broke my spirit, I remembered the two of you, how strong you were in the face of unknown terror, and I worked through it. The two of you saved my life in Raccoon, kept me alive during my captivity, and helped rebuild me into a person worthy to join the world. I can never repay that, never ever. The two of you sacrifice so much for others that I have to make my goodbye letter to you both all about that and yell at you for it."

"Take a second and stop. Stop the fighting, stop the protecting, stop being the guardian, the executioner, and the healer. Focus on yourselves for a bit and each other. You two deserve happiness, either with each other, or someone else, but you need to take the time to find it. Leon, you might think that having someone waiting for you that you care about will distract you, make you weak, but love makes us all stronger, gives us that strength of will to fight and survive. You might think that all you deserve is the cat and mouse game Ada provides, but you deserve so much more, something that I know Claire can deliver, if only you would let her in…." Leon sighs heavily and slinks away from Claire or tries to, before she wraps an arm around him and keeps her best friend close.

Rebecca locks gazes with Claire and smiles before reading the next half of the letter, "Claire, my adopted mother, you are so strong, so beautiful, and the healer for our little family. You have been through more events than the rest of us and have always come out on top, stronger, better, and somehow even more caring about people. Some of us have been jaded by what we've seen, blaming people for the weapons and monsters roaming the world, but not you. Your faith is as unshakeable as my hope that things will get better. I've always dreamed of being as badass as you, even going so far and buying a motorcycle as soon as I could afford it…"

A picture is held up, showing Sherry standing in front of a 1998 Harley-Davidson Super Glide while wearing that red vest that Claire gave her over two decades ago in Raccoon City, "You are my idol and I strive to live like you do, Claire. I love you more than my own mother… Which is why what I am about to say might hurt. Choose, right now. Is he worth it? It's written all over the two of you like graffiti on clean subway walls. Leon has his own demon to battle with, so you need to choose if this fight is worth it. Do you think he can give up Ada? Do you think he'll chase her until the end of time? Do you think you can ever be enough? You've loved other people, I know, but this falls into a whole different category. This falls into the Valenfield Legend category, you know? Leon can only be what you want him to be if you give him everything he needs: you, completely. He's a broken man, Claire, be his healer if you want him…"

Claire looks at Leon with twinkling eyes and he looks at her, but there is something between them and apparently Sherry knows just what that is, "If you are ever going to move on, be happy, and honor my memory, you need to stop blaming yourselves for what happened. Could you have stopped me from going? Could you have gone with me? Was there some mistake you made or something none of you prepared me for? Who knows at this point… What's done is done and I need you all to live on and be happy, for me. Take care of Jake, he may seem tough and immortal, but he bleeds and dies inside just like the rest of us. This part is for all of you: Do not let Jake live on as the son of Wesker, the son of a monster. Help him live on as the man I love, the ever-faithful protector…"

People always speak of the 'loudest silence', but it's not until you actually experience pure silence that you realize just how loud the quiet can be, "I…"

No one says anything, refusing to press Rebecca to read the last letter, all of them resting in silence and the power of the words just read aloud. Chris has moved over to Claire and is holding her as the younger redhead sobs silently into his chest. Leon occasionally looks away from everyone, hands resting tightly in his lap, or draped over the back of the pew, flexing his hands to crack his knuckles in uncertainty and impatience. Jake is watching the two with a look Rebecca knows is one of someone who feels the same pain they do: the pain of loss that could've possibly been prevented.

"Alright," Rebecca swipes the tears from her eyes and opens the final letter, "for Jake… Hey, you… So, I failed you. I always said that since we found each other nothing would take us apart, but yeah… Life sucks, right?" she smirks as she watches Jake nod automatically at the blonde's written words being spoken aloud, "Don't blame yourself, don't blame anyone who was there when it all went down, and definitely don't go off half-cocked blowing up half the world. We already had Chris do that when Jill was declared dead and look what good that did. …She has something written here as a note, "Sorry, Chris…" Work with them to hunt down who did this and make them pay. They all promised to scrub these viruses and the scumbags that make them from the face of the earth. Join them, carry on my quest, cleanse this world of a threat our families have created… Even though we may be the children of monsters, we are not monsters ourselves. We feel, we care, and we love. And love you I do, Jake… Everything about you, every inch of you, especially when y-"

There is a chuckle from Chris and a giggle from Jill as Rebecca turns bright red behind the pedestal, folds the letter back up, and returns it to the envelope, "I think Jake needs to read the rest of this alone…. Thank you, everyone, for listening… Does anyone have anything they'd like to say?"

Barry, Chris, Jill, Claire, Leon, and Jake, not a single one of them move to say anything, leaving Rebecca to worry that they are all taking Sherry's death harder than she originally thought, "I'll say something…"

Dark hair frames a set of frost-blue eyes as Leon stands up and slowly makes his way to where Rebecca now stands. Claire tries to stop him, but he shrugs off the hand and gives her a half-hearted smile.

Trembling hands slowly snake around the top of the podium, a deep, shuddering breath is taken and exhaled, and a deep voice, filled with sadness and regret says, "Sherry is my daughter... She considers herself the daughter of a monster, but to Claire and me, she is the daughter of heroes. Heroes, huh, what a word... Heroes accomplish anything with ease, save everyone, win the day. Sorry," his hands are trembling so hard that the podium itself is starting to rattle, "I'm still trying to gather the courage to sit up here... Before China, the last time I saw Sherry, she was being snatched from my arms by government agents as a man I hold forever as a dear friend offered me a place among them. Adam Benford was the one who recruited me after Raccoon City, he was the one who arrived at that motel and demanded we turn ourselves over as witnesses to the 'Incident'. I didn't know how to raise a kid, I was still one myself in some ways, but even I knew that if I gave her over to them, I'd never see her again. Adam, he... Had a way with words, he gave me his utmost guarantee that she would be well taken care of as I gave them my statement and rested up."

Leon looks over at Rebecca and smiles weakly, his eyes dark, "He was right in some ways, wrong in others... Sherry wasn't well taken care of until you showed up, Chambers. Thank you for that. I left her a scared girl and she returned into my life a confident and brilliant woman among the flames of a plane I crashed... We are gathered in a church, which as someone just reminded me, is a place to confess our sins. My sin, my biggest sin, is regret. It used to be that I missed the most important years of Sherry's life, but now it is that I am the reason she will never get to experience the best years of her life..."

Claire slowly begins to stand, tears staining her face as she reaches out to him, her mouth open to stop him, "My name, as you all know, is Leon Kennedy and I killed Sherry Birkin."

 **END of Part One**


	2. 1 Perfect Sand

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 **Chapter One: Perfect Sand**

Leon grimaces at his admittance, but stands by his own words, "Yes, this is true, I killed Sherry Birkin. Rebecca got her story off her chest, it's time for me to release mine to the world for judgement… Three weeks ago, Sherry was given her first lead-assignment from the D.S.O. and she was so excited, almost exploding when they agreed to her request for an inter-department team made of her own choosing. Claire and I were chosen, naturally."

Blue eyes clench shut as the church begins to swirl and wobble, the wooden pews turning into white walls, metal chairs, and filling with a bustling crowd of civilians and agents, _God…_

- _ **June 22**_ _ **nd**_ _ **, 2022**_ -

Leon perched himself against the wall, propping his form up with one boot against the wall about an hour ago, Sherry asked him to wait outside and that is what he intends to do. He's never seen her so excited about anything and it has him scratching the stubble on his face with interest and wonder. Since China, she has grown quickly both in maturity and skill, mostly because of his tutelage and Jake's constant pressing.

 _Jake Muller_ , he glances across the office at the door that leads into the training compound where Leon is pretty sure the ex-mercenary is busy doing gymnastics.

"If I make fun of him for that, given what I do, I'll be no better than Chris…" a chuckle leaves his lips and his right hand drops down to slide along the leather holster resting against his right thigh.

The agent is doing his best to not eavesdrop, but the anticipation is getting to him and he can't help himself but to slowly turn his head toward the door. Nothing, even with his sense of hearing he can't pick up anything through the door. Seems like Leon is going to have to get his information right from Sherry's own mouth. So, like a good friend, Leon continues his perch next to the door and closes his eyes, waiting for her to emerge from the Director's Office.

"Did you actually fall asleep here?" his blue eyes flash open as Sherry pokes him in the side, smiling up at him with that innocent smile she hasn't lost since Raccoon.

A scoff and dismissive wave of his hand as Leon pushes from the wall and smiles down at her, "Never. I don't sleep, you know that. So what's the big news, kiddo?" he runs his hand through her hair and ruffles it.

"You can stop doing that," she grumbles, "especially since I am now a team leader!"

The paper presented to him proves she isn't a liar, "Holy crap, Sherry, that's amazing! About time!"

"Yeah, only took 8 years…" the woman glares up at Leon, "Probably because you kept handing in reports on my progress and requesting me for your missions."

"Hey!" he holds up both hands, "put the guns down! I was only trying to make sure you were safe and ready for all this! Sucks you can only tell the mission details to members of your team, I'd love to know where you are going…"

"There is a suspected bioweapons lab located several miles northeast of New Delhi. I'm to go in with my team, dismantle their operation, and return with any intel on their recent transactions and possible attack plans," she recites the information like she was forced to remember it.

"Hey, now! I'm not a member of your te-" he stops as she giggles, "Wait, what?"

Sherry Birkin turns to him, her blonde hair reflecting the light shining in through the conference room windows, "He agreed to let me pick my own team. Welcome to Team Birkin, Leon!"

11

The two of them sit at a small table in the back of a bar close to Sherry's apartment, sharing drinks and celebrating her first official mission as a team leader, "So who else do you have in mind for this little team of ours?"

"Well," she nurses the mixed drink in front of her, resting her chin on her left wrist, "I reached out to the B.S.A.A. for Chris or Jill, but they are busy handling a biohazard event in France. Rebecca is still working to turn the A-Virus vaccine into a cure-all so I don't want to bother her… Chris did promise to send two of his best along to help me, they'll be here sometime in the next few days. We are going to need some kind of rapid-response humanitarian aid, so…"

"Claire," his eyes slowly close as he mentions the name.

The two of them haven't spoken too much since she met them after Arias and the New York incident. Claire had helped reset his dislocated shoulder and wrap his broken ribs before quickly moving on to her brother with a quick, " _You can take care of yourself from here, right?_ " Yeah, he's been taking care of himself alright. His drinking returned, but he's done his best to keep it in check. There's no woman in his life to love the demons away, so he might as well drink them away.

"Yeah, I called TerraSave a few hours ago, she agreed and will meet us tomorrow morning. We'll do a mission briefing when the B.S.A.A. troops get here. You okay?"

Of course Sherry could see through his blank face, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just taking it all in. Let me see that folder," he slides it around so he can read it and flips the cover open, "Our first hint was villagers being reported missing from the small towns surrounding New Delhi. Next, reports of strange monsters appearing throughout the desert and even in New Delhi itself. That's a little frightening, means this mystery group is further along in their research than suspected."

"Exactly," the glass is finished in one gulp before Sherry turns to the bartender and holds the glass up, asking for another, "why they have put this as a top priority and allowed me take you along. So, is there anyone else you'd suggest we bring along?"

Leon eyes the empty glass and the girl who finished it with a curious glance before holding up his own glass and shaking his head, "We don't really have much to go on, kid. I'd say we take more, but then it could be a trap. A smaller, well-experienced team can sneak in, destroy everything, and get out before the assholes playing God know what hit them."

Sherry smiles as another drink is presented before her and it's taken in a deft hand, "Should we ask the B.S.A.A. to assign a squad in New Delhi in case we need backup?"

"We could," the darker-haired of the two swirls his glass before finishing, "but I think it would be better if we kept this as in-house as possible. Set up a team to secure our entry and then aid the New Delhi forces in case things go south. We don't know how many of these monsters are out of the cages…"

"Right, that's a fair point," Sherry jots down the note quickly on one of the pages and smiles up at Leon, holding her drink out. "To my first mission as team lead!"

"You got this, Sherry," he joins the toast with his own glass and downs half of it.

- _ **June 23**_ _ **rd**_ _ **, 2022**_ -

"How in the hell can you be so happy this early in the morning?" Leon groans and nurses hangover number… What comes after too many to count?

Sherry smirks at him and points to her left temple, "Did you seriously think I was drinking all night, Leon? We all know that is your vice. I had two drinks and the rest of the night it was just some fancy juice the bartender did up to look like my usual. Brains, Kennedy, brains."

He huffs, pulls his sunglasses down over his eyes, and wishes there was some way to tell the fluorescent lights overhead to shut up with their incessant buzzing, "She should've been here by now…"

"Are you worried about her?" there's that tone, the one he hates, the one he gets whenever he talks about the better-looking of the Redfield siblings.

Leon glares at Sherry, but then realizes she can't see the glare behind his sunglasses, "No. Just she's late, even for her…"

True, Claire has been late to almost everything she's ever been asked to go to or made plans to attend. It used to clash with Leon's own punctuality until he eventually adapted Claire-time into his life. Fashionably late is a term everyone in their lives attaches to the pair, well when they still showed up to places together. The redhead told Sherry she would be at the D.S.O. Offices by ten, but here it is half-past Claire-time and still no sign of he- Leon sits up as the main floor goes quiet.

"Who the hell is that?" one voice speaks up near Leon and Sherry.

Another voice chimes in to shut him up, "That's Redfield's sister, touch that and he'll punch a hole through you, man."

Leon chuckles before she comes into view and stops him cold, she hasn't changed at all except that her hair is a bit longer. Her eyes are still bright, smile still brighter, that is until she makes eye contact with Leon himself.

Awkward, that's all you can call it, awkward as she enters the little conference room and takes Sherry into her arms, "Sherry! You are looking good as always! How's the D.S.O. been treating you?"

"Amazing! Feel like I should've been here all along! How are things going with TerraSave?" Leon knows that Sherry senses the tension and is thankful she didn't open with that.

Claire drops into a chair to Leon's right, putting her opposite Sherry, and she holds up a hand, "Oh, you know… Always some area under attack from BOWs and plenty of people to help."

Silence, awkward fucking silence, is that what their friendship has boiled down to? Leon shakes his head a little and leans back in the leather chair, a headache pounding away behind the sunglasses. Claire and Sherry continue their small talk around him, Leon only focusing on the occasional bit here and there to stay up-to-date on her life.

His ears pick up the sound of a bottle of pills and a bottle of water being dropped in front of him, "Seems like my hunch was right, Leon… Thought you could take care of yourself?"

"Yeah," the pills are opened and he quickly downs two of the pain relievers and chugs half the bottle of water, "I was able to. Then I had to get a bit of help…"

"Jack, Jim, and Jose aren't the kind of help you need," judgements, he is not in the mood for her judgements right now.

"Moving on, so you want to run us through it all, Sherry?" Leon finishes the bottle of water and tosses it toward the nearest garbage can, missing in spectacular fashion.

The blonde woman stands up and walks toward the large TV displaying a map of the desert surrounding New Delhi, "We are tasked with dismantling a fledging bioweapons lab located near New Delhi. There is no data on who this group could be, but we do have a single video taken by a civilian of a possible B.O.W. created by this lab."

Shades slowly lower down over the windows and Leon smiles happily as the lights are turned off. Claire makes a comment about how in this modern age people still use crappy phone cameras and continue to hold them wrong as Sherry pulls up the video and hits play. The video is apparently of a couple of teenagers skateboarding through downtown New Delhi in late afternoon. Several seconds pass by before Leon hears it, a sound of crumbling concrete, before the kid in focus vanishes in a cloud of dust and screams. The friend slides toward the hole and screams the boy's name, hand reaching into the pit for his friend to no avail. The flash on the phone is turned on and illuminates a decent bit of the tunnel, revealing something straight out of the movie Tremors. The mouth looking up at them has several tentacle-like tongues wrapping around the kid's body as several sharp mandibles pull the body in. It cuts to black as Sherry steps in front of them, her face dark and bothered by the footage.

"So, it tunnels? Fitting for the area I guess," Claire takes a sip of her own bottle of water as she's clearly processing it all.

"Fucking Tremors…" is all Leon can say, pictures of the Graboid from those movies coming to the forefront of his mind, "Someone actually went and created Graboids from Tremors… What the fuck…?"

He notices Claire smirk, so he turns to face her, "What has you smirking at me?"

"Oh nothing," the redhead slowly turns to meet him and her eyes flash, "I'll take on the Graboids, you can deal with the Ass-Blasters."

"Guys, can we focus here?" Sherry slams a hand on the table and glares at both of them, "I get it, the monster seems a little ridiculous, but it's a real threat and we need to stop it."

Another uncomfortable silence as Claire turns from him and nods toward the blonde woman, "Okay, where is this lab located?"

"That's part of our problem and why I am pretty sure our only option is to find this tunnel and follow it back to the lab," she points toward the still-frame of the video.

Leon stares at the picture, his head hurting significantly less as he finds something to focus on and distract him, "Well, spelunking is a past time of mine…"

- _ **June 25**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2022**_ -

It's two days later and the B.S.A.A. team has arrived to meet Leon, Claire, Sherry, and the small D.S.O. team pulled together on the main runway of Andrews Air Force Base, "Glad to see you could finally join us!"

Leon immediately recognizes the two people Chris has sent, "Nadia? DC? Didn't think I'd ever see you guys again after New York."

Nadia smiles at Leon and offers a hand for him to shake, "Glad to see you aren't drunk this time, Kennedy."

"I'm disappointed," DC steps up and drops a hand on his shoulder, "I brought aspirin and Red Bull just in case we needed to pep you up again."

"Oh, so you were drunk during that…" Claire's judgmental voice again in his left ear.

He holds up his hands and steps back, smirking a little, "Jeez guys, come on, it wasn't that bad. I was sober by the time we made it to New York, just had a massive headache."

"Enough of the fun, guys, we need to board and get going. It's a long flight to India," Sherry ushers the nine soldiers into the plane bearing the TerraSave logo.

The cargo area of the plane has ten seats and once they are all settled, Leon finds himself on the end with an empty seat next to him, "Figures…"

His words are lost to the engines as the plane begins its takeoff, Claire and Sherry to his right with Nadia looking over some last-minute details and forming some plan, with DC and the D.S.O. team discussing weapons and whether or not they'll ever bring back Breaking Bad.

" _ **Wait, wait. Is that really what you think I was doing? Judging you? Giving you the cold shoulder? Give me a break, Leon… I was heart-broken…" her voice rips them all from the story that was filling the church.**_

 _ **Leon looks up at Claire from behind the podium, his eyes dark, "Who broke it?"**_

" _ **You," she sucks in a sob and wipes the tears away, "You did, you moron… As I was busy fixing your wounds, you never said two words of thanks to me. I finally had enough and I walked off, assuming that was it."**_

" _ **Well," the dark-haired agent sighs and offers her the podium, "why don't you tell the rest?"**_

 **END of Part Two.**


	3. 2 Perfectly Clear Glass

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 **Chapter Two: Perfectly Clear Glass**

"We all have our own regrets, our own doubts, our perfect little sins, but how we overcome them defines us as human beings. Most of you chose to fix your regrets and find strength in the fight, which I commend you for and sometimes find myself wishing I could do that. A select few others decided to follow the path of the helper, the healer, the first face people see after the terror ends. I chose this path and I have not regretted it for even a second, until three weeks ago, as I watched my own lacking strength kill Sherry Birkin. My name is Claire Redfield and this is my one regret…" the room is silent as the redhead spills her soul out to them.

11

Claire sits with Sherry between her and Nadia, who she has only met a handful of times since New York, but her mind isn't completely on the details of the mission, she finds it lingering on the man with the dark hair on the opposite side of where they are sitting, "Crawling through the tunnels is going to be nasty, especially with all of us here."

"No," Sherry speaks up, "the D.S.O. team is there to provide security and cover our rears. It'll just be the five of us going in."

"Still going to be tough," Nadia's response is lost as Claire tries to figure out why he is being so cold.

 _After Chris dispersed the vaccine for the A-Virus, she made sure she was the first member of TerraSave on the scene, offering her comfort and help to Chris, Leon, and Rebecca. As they disembarked from the B.S.A.A. helicopter, her heart broke three times over. All of them look like they went sixteen rounds with a Tyrant and it spat them back out, but Leon looked the worst of the trio. His eyes were darker than his hair, which she believed was a physical impossibility, his left arm was hanging limp at his side, and he was covering his stomach with his right arm. Just what had the D.S.O. warrior been through?_

" _I…" she didn't know what to say or who to look over first, but Leon was the first one to collapse, the first one for her to heal._

 _His breathing was shallow, like every single molecule of air was pure pain, so she set about fixing the first injury she could: his dislocated shoulder. He grunted loudly as she set the bone back into place, the frown on her face still brighter than his scowl as she swiped some of the sweat, blood, and grime from his face. Next, she pulled his shirt up, not sure what to make of the large nasty bruise forming around his abdomen._

" _What the hell did you fight?" she lightly touched the wound and fell back as he almost screamed in pain._

 _His breath wasn't shallow anymore, it was deep now, fighting back the pain, but that would never stop his sarcasm, "I fought your brother after he asked me what I planned to do after this was all over. 'Your sister' is clearly not an appropriate response."_

 _She'd be flattered if it wasn't for the fact she knew sarcasm was his default language, "Ha-ha, Kennedy… You can take care of yourself from here, right?"_

" _Yup," he showed no emotion, no appreciation for her work, and Claire now knew she wasn't dealing with regular Leon Kennedy, she was just handed a big dose of Weapon-Kennedy._

He's been that same person ever since, like he has shut off every emotion in his body to avoid feeling pain, _How am I supposed to break through that?_

"Claire? What do you think?" Sherry's voice cuts through the memory and brings her back to reality.

A shake of the head to clear the fog, "Hmm? Run it by me one more time…" and the words are lost to the drum of the engines and her own screaming thoughts.

- _ **June 26**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2022**_ -

It is close to seven in the morning when the TerraSave plane lands at the New Delhi International Airport, "Jesus, I hate time zone changes… It would only be eleven at night right now…"

Claire ignores DC's comment and slowly emerges from the plane, stepping out into the balmy morning air of India's capital, "Alright, where's my water bottle? If it's this hot now, it is going to be murder later on…"

She glances down at her watch, seeing the temperature now is just over ninety degrees and set to be over one hundred by noon. They better start early if they want to avoid being stuck out in this heat longer than they need to be. Nadia quickly drives their Humvee from the cargo hold and with the help of the D.S.O. team, they get it loaded and ready to head out in no time flat.

This is where the fun begins, "Just what do you think you are doing?"

Leon stops from climbing into the driver's seat and turns to face Claire, "Driving…?"

"RPD Cruiser. Tall Oaks Patrol Car. B.S.A.A. helicopter. Passenger Jet. Ducati," each word causes Leon's left eye to twitch.

"Hey!" he slaps the hood of the Humvee and growls, "I didn't crash the Ducati."

"You did drive it into a building, up an elevator, drove it into a Tyrant, and finally," Nadia moves her hands to mimic an explosion, "BOOM!"

Blue eyes glare daggers at the female sniper of Silver Dagger, "Not. Helping. One. Bit."

As the two exchange glares with Nadia in the middle of it all, DC quickly hops into the driver seat and honks the horn, "Let's go, ladies!"

Nadia hops in the back with Claire, who turns to Leon and smirks as she says, "You have the best hair, so you get to ride bitch…"

"You're just jealous because I wear your conditioner better than you do," he stops as he climbs into the Humvee.

"What…?" the two Raccoon City Survivors exchange an awkward glance before Leon shrugs and closes the door.

11

It only took another thirty minutes to find the street their mystery monster burst through and Claire was thinking the entire way, _You closed yourself off to me, Leon. What did I do?_

That joke about her conditioner was the first real sign of the man she considers her best friend and she hopes there will be more, unless she broke their friendship too far to come back. It eats at her as the Humvee navigates the busy roads of downtown New Delhi, eats away at her sanity just being this close to him with no way to know what he's feeling or thinking. Honestly though, what was she expecting? They are on a mission, so of course she's getting Soldier Leon and not the funny rookie cop from Raccoon. Claire misses her best friend, has missed him for a long time and isn't sure how to fix what's gone wrong between them.

"Who's the lucky guy?" Nadia's voice jolts Claire from her own thoughts so hard she actually jumps a little, which makes the younger woman laugh a little.

"Hmm?" Claire shakes her head, wishing her hair was long so she could hide behind it, "What makes you say that?"

A smirk crosses the sniper's lips, "It's obvious, girl. You're seriously into someone… You can tell me."

"It doesn't matter," the TerraSave worker sighs and rests her chin on her right hand, staring out the window, "I've screwed it up too bad."

"Please, Claire," Nadia slides large rifle rounds into another magazine and drops it into a bag, "anyone you can possibly think about like that can't possibly be that screwed up. Just tell him."

Blue eyes lock with a passerby on a bicycle, sees through them, and sighs heavily, "I'd be risking a lot…"

"What's a lot when it comes to love, my friend?"

"Everything…" Claire turns a bit and stares at the back of Leon's head, even more unsure of what to do now than she ever was before.

11

"Alright, you guys keep a tight perimeter, lock down the tunnel after we go in, and make sure nothing goes in or comes out that is not one of us, make myself clear?" the four men before Sherry nod and shoulder their weapons, turning toward the streets surrounding the tunnel, Claire smiling at how much of a natural-born leader she is.

As the younger woman hands out orders to the D.S.O. team, Claire, Leon, DC, and Nadia are all packing and arming up for their trek into unknown territory, "Pass me another couple magazines of the fifty action-express."

"Yup," DC hands the requested ammo to Leon, who quickly slides them into the available pouches on his belt and holster, "anyone else need anything before I close it up?"

The blonde steps up, smiles at the taller pilot, and holds up the revolver Barry gave her before she left for Edonia, "Just a few, you know, in case."

He winks at her and produces the speed-loaders she asked for, "You good on nine-mill?"

"Always," Sherry drops the loaders into the pouch resting on her left hip and nods before turning to her assembled team, "Who wants point?"

No one speaks up, but something happens that Claire knows will surprise their team leader: they just kind of fall into a formation that suits them perfectly. Leon is point, Claire behind him keeping an extra eye out for him. Nadia stands next to Sherry, ready to cover her if anything should happen, and DC brings up the rear, his eyes constantly glancing behind them as they drop into the tunnel.

Darkness, blinding and silent darkness greet the team as they land on flat terrain after a decent drop, "I got it."

Leon clicks on his tactical flashlight and holds it under his handgun, illuminating their path ahead. Claire inspects the tunnel wall as they walk through, cringing a bit as the tunnel is kind of… Soggy. Their footsteps squelch, voices are a little muffled, and something seems off.

Claire feels the hair on the back of her neck stand up and is about to prod Leon to keep an eye out when he quickly whispers as he turns the light off, "Hold up, something's in the tunnel we're about to intersect with."

 _Always the soldier… Did I do this? Did I fail to help you heal?_ Can't focus on that now, not when there is a threat so close to them, so Claire shakes her head to clear the thoughts from her mind and keeps her eyes and ears open.

There, a sound like a churning cement mixer, off to their left, putting them all on alert. Silence, barely a breath among them exhaled as they wait, weapons ready to shoot whatever comes at them. Leon squats down closer to the ground to give the rest of them better aiming views when it appears at the end of the tunnel. Darkness makes it impossible to see the creature, but it's large and faster than they expected. An unpleasant sound of wetness and churning signals its movement and they all tense as the sound slows down. There is a hissing sound followed by what they can only imagine are the mandibles spreading open to release the multitude of tongues into the air to possibly sense them.

Claire feels Leon move, his left arm if she had to guess, and then there is a very slow, almost silent click as the tunnel fills with light, "What….the…fuck…?"

The monster, which they all have taken to calling a Graboid, has opened its mouth and there are several tongue-like appendages snaking out into the air, "Why isn't the light setting it off?"

Leon holds up a hand to hush her question, _I'd be offended if I didn't know him better._

The next several seconds are tense, almost unbearable, but finally the tongues recede, the mandibles close, and the monster continues on its way. Not a single one of them dare speak for the next couple of minutes, even after the sound of the monster moving has left earshot. Leon continues guiding them, light pointed straight ahead, only diverting long enough to check offshoots and potential path deviations.

"What the hell was that thing?" DC's voice is solid, but the question does come from a bit of fear, Claire can feel it in the words.

Leon turns and lowers the flashlight enough so it's just illuminating their group, "I'm pretty sure the creature is blind and mostly deaf… We'll need to gat-" he stops and looks at Sherry, "Sorry."

"That's fine," Claire finds it endearing that he just apologized to Sherry, maybe there is still a bit of that rookie cop in there somewhere, "He's right. We are going to need to gather more information on the creatures. Either from watching them, or from documents in the lab when we find its location. For now, we'll move slowly and hopefully not attract another one into crossing our path."

From here, they continue on in search of their target, all of them quiet, eager, and alert. Leon continues on as point, but Claire has now stepped up next to him, pointing her own flashlight in tandem with his own. Several more turns and crossing are traveled before they find the path starting to slant downward and Claire notices Sherry pull out a small GPS device.

"We're about three miles outside New Delhi already. Makes sense we'd finally start descending. How in the hell haven't these tunnels collapsed already?" the young woman's voice is quiet and quick, just wanting to get the information out and even ask a question to keep them engaged a bit.

"I think we've raised her well, don't you?" one blue eye is closed as she winks at her partner.

He offers a small smile and nods back at her, "Our little girl is all grown up now, Claire."

" _ **Wait," Leon's voice breaks up the story, Claire glaring at him as he does so, "you think me getting focused was an escape mechanism from how broken I am? Drinking is my escape. 'Soldier Leon', as you call it, is just me focusing so I can protect everyone and make sure we get out alive."**_

" _ **Guys," Chris stands up, having apparently had enough, just like Rebecca has as she watches all of this unfold, "can we not do this now? You two are here to tell a story, to fill in the blanks the D.S.O. has hidden by red tape and redactions."**_

" _ **Maybe if I had been a better friend, a better lover, you might not have to use alcohol as a crutch and coping mechanism," the words are spit out so fast that both Rebecca and Chris almost break their necks to stare at the younger Redfield.**_

 _ **Leon sighs heavily as Chris speaks slowly, the rage evident to the PhD holder, "What… What did you just say?"**_

" _ **Chris, please," Claire's face softens as she looks at her brother, "I've been a grown woman since 1998. I've had sex. Plenty of it. Not nearly as much as you or the Man-Whore over there," everyone follows her gaze to the dark-haired Agent, "but I've had it. I'm going to keep having it. You know what, maybe even one day I might just channel you and start sharing my sexcapades with my brother. Yes, I've fucked Leon Kennedy. Many times, as it were. It's amazing, he's amazing, but he's so DAMNED broken I can't see it being anything more than sex."**_

 _ **At this point, Leon stands up, "What we have isn't meaningless, Claire, you have to know that…"**_

" _ **Oh, I know," her voice is darker, angrier, "I refuse to let myself become another meaningless notch on the bedpost of Leon Kennedy. I keep trying to get through to you, to get you to love me like I do you, all so I don't end up as another cheap whore you toss away at the end of the night!"**_

 _ **Rebecca turns as she sees Moira walk over to Jake and take a seat next to him, "Oh this is getting good… Where's the popcorn?"**_

" _ **Don't have any," Jake replies nonchalantly, but produces another piece of fruit, "but I do have an orange…"**_

 _ **Moira takes it with a slightly confused glance, "Where do you get these things?"**_

" _ **I raided the fruit tray from the main foyer of the church before I walked in," he takes a bite of another pear as the fight ramps up. "Fifty bucks says Roidfield treats Leon's head like a boulder…"**_

 **END of Part Three**


	4. 3 Sterling Silver

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 **Chapter Three: Sterling Silver**

 _ **-New York, 2022-**_

Jill steps into the middle of the volatile trio and holds up her hands, "I think we should all take a second and collect ourselves before something happens we are going to regret doing in a church…"

Rebecca gasps and steps back as Chris attempts to say something, but receives a slap across the face, "No, Chris. We need to be quiet now, got it?"

"Fine," the largest man in the room holds up his hands and quickly walks away, dropping into a seat on the far side of the church.

Crystal blue eyes watch the room, locking on Leon as he steps toward the podium, his eyes locked on Claire, "Don't."

Her voice stops him dead in his tracks, "What can I say? What can I do to fix this?"

"Let me in, Leon. Let me help you…"

None of them are prepared for his response, "By letting you in, Claire, I got Sherry killed!"

 _ **-June 26**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2022-**_

Leon smirks and nods at the redhead next to him, "Our little girl is all grown up now, Claire."

It feels good to say and it feels even better to say it to Claire, but he needs to focus, needs to maintain his alertness so he can be prepared for anything. Their footsteps continue to squelch in the soaked mud underfoot, every member of their team almost losing their footing more than once as they slowly continue their descent down the tunnel. Leon's eyes scan left and right, the flashlight in his hand sweeping to light his gaze, but there are no immediate threats to be targeted and neutralized.

 _Can I turn it off?_ People always think that when Leon goes into his 'Soldier Mode' he has no thoughts other than the mission, but that is so far from the truth it makes his head spin sometimes.

There is always a part of his mind open, kind of a defense mechanism to fight off the silence and battle back the demons that dwell in the recesses of his mind. Off to his left, the light quickly turns and off in the distance another Graboid scurries away; this is when he sees it. There are several gill-like flaps in the flesh around its backside that excrete a mucus-like liquid. So that is why the tunnels are soaked and slimy: the monsters are coating it with excrement as they eat the dirt.

"Gross…" his voice is a mere whisper, but it is enough to snatch Claire's attention.

Her right hand sinks into the muck above them as she pivots on the arm to follow his gaze, "What's up?"

"Their excrement is why the tunnels are slick and mask our steps," a small chuckle leaves his lips as he watches her arm slowly shake and release the ceiling, her blue eyes shimmering with disgust before she wipes the hand off on the back of his shirt. "Thanks. That might never wash out…"

"Well, you should have worn a crappy shirt since we're in such a crappy area…" he feels her beam with pride at the low-hanging joke, but he's got one up on her, every time.

Leon continues their march, eyes focused and ready, and then he says, "Just remember, the tunnels aren't the 'fecal point' of our adventure here; it's the lab."

"I cannot believe you just dropped a pun like that right now…" does she really not know him?

There is one more pun, but he holds off, deciding to return to making sure the team reaches its destination in one piece. As they continue their trek through the tunnels, Leon catches the occasional piece of conversation from DC, Nadia, and Sherry. Leon cannot fight the feeling of pride at the blonde woman they are all surrounding and protecting. The day Leon heard she became an Agent, he almost threw a chair and had to be talked down from travelling to where she was and stopping her from making that mistake.

 _One of us had to escape, one of us had to be free of this nightmare_ , it was her wish, though.

They sent him on missions after that to keep his mind busy and away from Sherry's choice and it was only when they reconnected in China that he accepted her resolution. The life fit her well and she was a born natural it seemed. He offers a glance back at her and smiles a little, yeah, she's a natural for this life, just like the rest of them stained by bioterror. DC makes a joke about Sherry's healing ability, a gift born from a dark curse and tainted bloodline. A chilled breeze crosses through them, putting everyone's senses on high-alert.

"Into the heart of the beast," Claire's voice carries easily across the cavernous room they have slid into.

Five pairs of eyes scan the large junction chamber for threats, escapes, and hidden places for threats to hide in. Leon watches as a large glob of the slime lining everything forms at end of a tunnel offshoot and drops to the soggy ground with a wet slop. Nadia steps up next Leon, DC steps up next to Claire, and Sherry steps behind them all, none of them prepared for what is to happen.

There is a sudden explosion of white as the chamber is filled with bright light from fixtures mounted overhead, " _ **Oh, seems I do have some trespassers. Kill them.**_ "

"Short, to the point, and pretty cocky," Sherry checks her pistol and smirks up at the voice, "do you not know who we are?"

" _ **Doesn't matter who sent you. D.S.O. B.S.A.A. Blue Umbrella… You'll die the same**_ ," Leon actually senses that Sherry's words got to the mysterious voice, which he can't help but feel more pride in that he probably should.

The group falls into a circle, their eyes and weapons trained for anything to move before DC speaks up in a hard whisper, "Villain does know these things can't see us, right?"

A sound of a hard punch followed by a small cry of pain, "Why did you hit me, Nadia?"

"Stop jinxing us, DC. We're going to make it out of here. Sherry, any idea where we should go?"

The blonde scans the chamber, noticing that the upper levels have all the makings of a full-blown facility, "Well, our target is clearly in that building, so I think we have two tunnels to choose from. Splitting up might be a decent idea if we knew what we are up against. Do you guys hear that?"

He doesn't need to hear it, he can feel it: the trembling ground, the shifting earth, and it's all coming from below, "RUN!"

As the team moves toward the tunnel nearest to the compound, the ground where they were standing explodes in a cloud of dirt and slime. Three of the Graboids erupt from the hole, slamming into the ground like some horror-movie version of breaching whales.

"You mind?" Leon picks up the sound of a pin being pulled after DC's question.

"Please do!" Sherry's answer is almost frantic, but Leon knows it's the adrenaline.

They round the turn, almost slipping in the soaked mud, and DC tosses the grenade behind them. The D.S.O. superstar hopes his aim is spot-on as Claire approaches the metal door and proceeds to rip it open. The door jumps partway open, with Sherry slipping through and helping pull from the other side. Nadia jumps into the gap and uses her entire body to help gain them entry as Leon and DC take defensive positions on either side of the tunnel.

"Ideas, hotshot?" the B.S.A.A. pilot drops his rifle into a chunk of muck jutting out from the wall, smirking as it's solid enough to use as a brace.

Leon holds the Desert Eagle steady in his hands as a chuckle leaves his lips, "I'm too distracted trying to figure out how you two work with the brain-dead Redfield. You both crack jokes, have fun, and bring smiles to the party."

"The Captain is a riot, just another one of the guys when the mood hits him right," DC sticks a few extra magazines into the muck for quick reloads, "You've known him longer than we have, how do you not know that?"

Rumblings up ahead snag Leon's attention for a second, but he looks at DC, then nods back toward Claire, who almost has the door open, "Kind of hard for him to be funny and loveable when I'm too close to his sister."

No further words can be shared as one of the monsters appears from the end of the tunnel, mandibles snapping open and closed, body aimed to slam into them and the door. Leon readies another magazine for a reload and prepares to fire, his left eye closing to offer him a bit more stable aim. DC glances over at Leon, waiting for a signal to fire, but it never comes.

"We're in!" Leon nods for DC to jump through first and then turns to join him as the beast charges for them, screeching something horrendous.

Once Leon is through the door, DC slams it closed, and Sherry flips the locking mechanism, all of them breathing a sigh of relief, "That was a lot fucking closer than I want to ever get to those things again…"

"You," Leon smirks and pats DC on the back, "and me both. So, what are we looking at here?"

He notices that Sherry is walking back and forth across the corridor, staring at her feet, "Something up, boss?" Leon fights the urge to call her 'kiddo'.

"The floor is padded, or springy, or something, I'm not sure. I think it's designed to eliminate footfalls," she jumps up a little and nods when she wobbles a little from the landing. "Yeah, this floor is designed to hide the tremors from walking, running, and moving things."

Leon smirks at her words, "So the creatures do sense us through the vibrations in the ground."

"Why didn't they find us sooner?" Nadia leans against the wall and absentmindedly traces a finger along a large rifle round hanging on a chain around her neck.

Sherry offers up the answer before Leon can, "The muck they excrete, it made the ground softer so our steps didn't carry as far. Running, though, that set them off. The tunnels were soaked, the main chamber wasn't, which I guess is how our mysterious host found out we were here."

Claire shows up in Leon's peripheral vision and they exchange glances, the same glances proud parents share when their child is showing off how amazing they are. Leon is almost caught off guard as Claire's hand snakes around his own, their fingers interlocking. He traces his thumb over the back of her hand and feels a warmth filling his body he hasn't felt in a long time. They share one more look before nodding and turning to Sherry, awaiting her next order.

"What's the plan?" DC cleans some of the muck from the magazines he tucked into the wall and slips them back into his vest.

Blue eyes close slowly as Sherry thinks on this, "Well whoever our target is, they know we're here…"

Everyone turns to glare at Leon, who holds up a hand and hurriedly counters, "Sorry. Habit and all."

"Again, he's right. Since they know we are here, it's going to turn our mission timetable up a few notches. We need to gather what intel we can, capture the target, and destroy the lab so their work cannot continue. I am," Sherry looks at each of them, "looking for suggestions on how to proceed. Splitting up may not be our best option when it comes to safety…"

"But," Claire steps up and places a hand on the younger woman's shoulder, "it is our best option to complete our tasks in an expedited manner. DC, Nadia, you two okay with tracking down our target?"

"Leave whoever this sick bastard is to us," Nadia nods and DC throws a tiny salute at Sherry, "We'll keep in radio contact, Miss Birkin."

"Good luck," she returns the salute to DC and soon, the Raccoon City trio is left alone as the remainder of Silver Dagger vanishes down an intersecting corridor up ahead.

Leon drops the bag he's had slung over his shoulder since they disembarked the plane to the ground in front of them, "Well, we better bring out the big guns…"

"Exactly what did you pack?" Claire eyes the bag suspiciously as Leon hands out two remotes, each one filled underneath with eight small metal sticks.

He beams with pride as he opens the bag the rest of the way, revealing an obscene amount of plastic explosive, "You want this place destroyed, right? A gift from a friend of mine in the military. Each detonator has its own frequency if we need them to detonate separately."

"Like if we want to feed a piece to one of those Graboids and then detonate it," the smile on her face when he confirms her thoughts is infectious and he finds himself smiling at their leader.

"Alright" he sets about handing a few blocks of C4 to each of the women before him, "Pull the detonator, click it to activate, stick in the explosive, and toss. When ready, just press the button and we've got sushi."

"Charming," the redhead takes the plastic explosive and winks at him, melting more of his heart, _Do you have any idea what that little wink does to me?_

 _Focus, Kennedy_ , he nods back to her and slings the bag back over his shoulder, holding out his hand for Sherry to lead the way.

The large revolver is pulled up high enough for body shots on a person and possible headshots on these tunneling freaks as Sherry steps forward and begins to lead the two older survivors down the corridor. They constantly scan for threats, Leon opting to look back once in a while in case something tries to sneak up on them. As they continue to move, they find that something sneaking up on them will be harder to miss than originally thought, since the way the floor moves travels through a decent distance. It takes them a few minutes to get into a matching march in order to balance out the wobbling floor, but soon enough they are moving in tandem like a well-oiled machine.

 _Barry and Jill have taught her well it seems_ , though he isn't too happy with her choice in weaponry, Leon did get to experience her skill with an even larger magnum in China against the Ustanak.

" _ **Wait wait, you two were just at each other's throats and you just continue the story like that didn't happen?" Rebecca is kind of confused at this sudden turn around.**_

 _ **She watches as Leon looks at her before sighing, "Her story needs to be told. We can hold off on the fighting until that is done. We owe her at LEAST that much, don't you agree?"**_

 _ **Claire, Jill, Jake, and even Chris nod, though Chris hasn't moved his gaze from the D.S.O. Agent. Awkward silences are never good, especially when there is tension so thick in the air that Rebecca swears she can see it. It has a weird feel to it though, almost sexual in nature, powerful as well. Her eyes slowly move between Leon and Claire, noticing that the two of them haven't moved their eyes off each other.**_

 _ **Before she says it, the professor knows that even on her deathbed, she'll never ever be able to explain why the words left her lips, "After her story is all said and done, the two of you need to book a hotel room and fuck whatever this is out of both of you."**_

 **END of Part Four**


	5. 4 Polished Mirror

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 **Chapter Four: Polished Mirror**

Rebecca feels every single set of eyes in the church focus on her, which causes all the blood in her body to rush into her cheeks, "I… I'm sorry…"

Something, someone around her needs to say something, anything to break the silence, the awkwardness. She quickly moves toward the back of the church and sits down in a small chair, hiding her face in her hands. Nothing is stopping the anxiety from crawling from her mind down to her knees, which are bouncing uncontrollably. Why aren't they saying anything?

There is a weight that just appears next to her, comforting, warm, and the best part is it's not judging her, "I think... Nope, I believe you have the biggest balls in the room…"

The medic stops, takes a deep breath, and lets out a large laugh that echoes through the church, "Have I told you how glad I am that you are here, Jill?"

"Only once out loud, but I can tell you've thought it more. Come on," Jill lovingly slaps Rebecca's knees and motions toward the podium, "I think they're going to continue telling us how one of them killed Sherry."

Brown hair and blue eyes turn toward the coffin, empty, "Yeah… Confessions…"

 _ **-Dubai Desert, June 27**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2022-**_

"Can you believe we've been in these tunnels for over fifteen hours?" Claire rolls her eyes as Leon checks his watch while Sherry is busy working on the card-swipe lock in front of them.

It's been subtle, the changes in his demeanor, but she can see that Leon is breaking down the walls between Leon and Soldier. Part of her wants to believe that it is because of her words, touches, and looks, but it's Sherry that is bringing this change about. Jealousy is what comes to mind, but she can't feel like that, not now, not when Claire knows that Sherry is the reason why they are all changing. Since getting to really meet her after China, Chris has changed. Jill and Barry are better after helping her train… The little girl they saved in Raccoon City is saving them all in return.

Sherry's voice shocks Claire out of her thoughts, "We're in!"

"Valentine taught you well," Leon stands on the card swipe side of the door and holds up his magnum.

Sherry and Claire ready their own arms and nod at Leon, who nods back and presses the open button. The metal door slides open, Sherry steps in and left, while Claire steps in and aims right, allowing Leon to step right into the middle of the room. The redhead immediately notices that the room is empty of threats, but watches with interest as Leon walks through the entire laboratory, ducking under every table, looking behind every sheet or curtain, not happy with the lack of threats until he's basically turned the entire lab upside down.

"Remember the days when the bad guys used to leave paper notes on their misdeeds?" blue eyes stare down at the half-dozen computers flashing what are probably highly-encrypted lock screens.

Leon's voice calls out next, "Still got the binder of all the letters and diaries we picked up from Raccoon City."

"They," she can't believe what she just heard, "let you keep it?"

"Perks of working directly for the President," it always amazes Claire when he tosses the President out there like it's nothing.

Lithe fingers pull a flash-drive from the pouch on her hip, Claire slipping it into a USB port in the front of the computer. The program begins to run, breaking the encryption in little to no time, which still surprises Claire after all this time.

"I'm actually still surprised how well Ashley's program holds up," she watches as Leon chuckles and nods, already having gained access to his computer and is busy rooting through the files for evidence, logs, and a way to kill these things.

Yeah, who would've thought that little Ashley Graham, one half of the duo that escaped Spain, would find herself working with the D.S.O. as a computer tech and hacker extraordinaire? It was two years ago when Claire first met the former President's daughter and all she could do was talk about how amazing Leon was through the entire ordeal. Claire occasionally busts Leon's chops for it, mentioning how he has women falling all over him throughout the D.S.O. and beyond.

Every single time he responds the same, "They can all want… Only one has truly touched the Golden Kennedy."

Claire knows that she is the only one he speaks of, but there will always be a red spot she just can't shake, _Ada…_

She heard from her brother that the two of them fought about Ada, heard from Helena how he jumped off a building to save her, and it's something she just can't shake. Ada was the reason why he couldn't choose her after Raccoon City, the reason why he didn't speak much about Spain to her, the reason why his trip to the Eastern Slav Republic has been redacted and classified, and the reason why Chris didn't come back to the States after Edonia and China. She is nothing but poison, locking off parts of Leon's life from Claire, poison that just makes her angry and bitter. Claire suddenly realizes she has been blaming Leon for a problem that SHE can't let go.

"I've got details here on the compound they used. It seems it's not really a virus, they've been genetically engineering these things. Rebecca will need to look it over, the science is too smart for me," at least Leon can admit one fault…

Sherry chimes in next, "I've got some encrypted emails here. Will download them so we can root through them later. You find anything good, Claire?"

"No, not yet, unless you count someone's solitaire high-scores as good intel," Claire lies, realizing she didn't even bother opening anything after gaining access to the computer.

There is a presence behind her, one that is comforting, warm, and smells faintly of his familiar super-expensive cologne she can never pronounce the name of, "Just download it all, we'll comb it later back at the D.S.O."

Claire spins around, eyes glancing at a thankfully distracted Sherry, and slowly turns her eyes back to lock with Leon's own blue, "I.. Yeah, yeah, you're right."

He chuckles, placing his hands on the desk on either side of her, and leans in, "What has you so distracted? Someone back home? Your brother? Sherry?" his voice is soft, seductive, probing her soul for answers, "Or me?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Claire spins around, typing away on the computer to begin a hard download, "I'm focused on the job, Leon. Let's just finish this up, find what we need, and meet up with DC and Nadia."

"Okay," the hands slide away, Claire finding herself wishing they weren't moving away, but up, "I'll go keep a look-out while you two finish up, Red."

 _Red…_ a name he hasn't called her since Raccoon City. Why is he choosing now, of all times, to return to being the rookie cop who stole her heart that night? Claire admits to herself that both of them have been cold to the other for what feels like years, but that's his fault, she's sure of that. It was one day, back in 2013, that truly broke whatever they had back then.

 **-** _ **July 13**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2013-**_

Claire stands outside the D.S.O. offices, the sunglasses on her face polarized and reflecting the building back at itself. Sherry called, Chris called, but Leon did not. Chris and Sherry gave her some of the details, other details she gathered from a bit of research, palm-greasing, and a decent google-search of the man in question. Assassinated the President, faked his death which is something she's going to take a LONG time to get over, and then killed Derek Simmons.

Out of those three bullet-points, Claire has brought a small bottle of whiskey to thank Leon for killing Simmons, and then beat him over the head with it for the other two, "Where the hell are you?"

The message from the blonde agent told her to be here at precisely three in the afternoon, yet here she was at a quarter to five and no sign of Leon. Figures, he'd betrayed the government and killed two high-ranking political figures, so stands to reason he had flaked on her. With a sigh, Claire turns toward her car, opens the door, and screams when a smirking face greets her.

"Leon! DAMN IT!" she throws the bottle at him, which he catches with a deft hand and gently tosses it into the air a few times.

His stormy eyes sparkle as that voice, the one that her dreams are made of, speaks up, "Yeah, you've been standing there for a while… I said hi and everything. Figured you'd finally get bored and climb back into the car…" he turns the bottle in his hand to check his watch, "Forty-five minutes ago."

"You have not been sitting in my car for almost an hour!" she drops into the driver's seat and closes her door.

Leon chuckles, leans back in his seat, and sits the bottle between his legs, "Why do you say that?"

"Door is still open, genius," the engine is started, shifted into drive, and she pulls it away onto the main street.

Something draws her attention from the road for a brief second, it's a flash of light reflected off the glass bottle onto Leon's right thigh, where she can almost make out the shape of, "Eyes on the road, Red."

"What?" she shakes her head, "They are on the road, rookie."

"Please, I haven't used it nearly enough for it to be called a road…" the nonchalant joke that also pokes fun at her, typical Kennedy.

Her left hand quickly pulls her sunglasses down to the end of her nose, not because the light isn't blinding, but to hide her flushed cheeks, "So which part of the story do I believe?"

"All of it," no joke, no pun, no denial, what is she to make of that?

His head is resting against the window, right hand propping up his chin while the left hand dangles over the bottle of whiskey, tracing small circles in the air absentmindedly, "Biohazard event in Tall Oaks, it infected the President, and I killed him. Simmons was behind it all, set off the virus to stop Adam from spilling secrets the Family didn't want spilled. Everyone thought Helena and I were dead after the nuke hit, so we used that to sneak our way into China… We finally killed Simmons, speared him on a piece of artwork in the middle of the Quad-Tower…"

"Oh," she's quiet for a moment, listening as everything he tells her matches the image in her mind, "is that all?"

"Ada is alive," a shock, but not surprising, she didn't know they were calling her dead, again, "Simmons turned another woman into a clone of Ada, who killed Chris's team in Edonia, causing his amnesia… Chris and I almost came to blows over Ada, wish I had known he was chasing a clone, would've let him kill her right then and there. As Helena and I set off to take down Simmons, we were saved by Ada," he stops as she scoffs, "What?"

"Nothing," Claire's hands tighten around the steering wheel, which she knows he can see, "keep going…"

A long, deep breath is pulled in, held, and then released as Leon continues, "She helped us take down Simmons once, then we saved her while she fought Simmons, then she left us a rocket launcher that we used to take Simmons down for good."

Sunglasses are pushed up, not because the sun is blinding, but to hide the tears, "Glad it all worked out. Glad you made it home safe, Kennedy."

"Claire," he rests his left hand on her right and she twitches without thinking, "after all these years, how could you possibly forget that I can read your mind."

She yearns for that hand to do more, touch more, take more, but something burns deep in her heart, "Yeah? What's it saying?"

"Shut up about Ada," she laughs loudly about this, which causes him to lean forward and look into her sunglasses-covered eyes. "Which we know I have a problem with."

"Wrong," Claire pulls the car over to the side of the road and drops it into Park, "you are so wrong…"

"Then what is bothering you, Claire-bear?" oh he did not just use that name…

"Why am I not good enough for you?" she feels the interior of the car grow cold as the hand falls away from her own, he shifts back into his seat, and remains silent, deadly silent.

Claire holds in a breath to fight the tears away, especially as he speaks, "Why would you think you aren't good enough?"

"You keep chasing her. You keep talking about her. Did you even mention me to Helena? Did you ever stop to think what the news of your death would do to ME? I DIED that day! When Sherry called me to tell me you died when they incinerated Tall Oaks, I was BROKEN! I lost you, I mourned you, for four days, Leon. All I could think about was how I'd never get to see you, hold you, tell you I love you, or even kiss you. I don't know why I ever thought these things, you never showed much interest in me after Raccoon City, after the motel room…"

Leon remains silent, stoic, doing everything he normally does without realizing it's pissing Claire off, "SAY SOMETHING!"

She jumps as the man who holds her heart punches the dashboard hard, "LUST! THE CHASE! Ada was the chase! I couldn't resist, she was like a drug! You were always here, always my stable home…"

"Then why wasn't home good enough?" his next words slap her across the face.

The weary agent clenches his fists and growls out, "Because I don't deserve you, Claire."

He turns, ready to face the truth, but she reaches over, grabs the sides of his face, and pulls him into a soft kiss, one that is begging, pleading for more. She can't stop herself, letting out a sound of need that almost forces him to give in, one hand wrapping around her neck while the other snakes around her waist. Claire moans as his tongue darts into her mouth, tasting, teasing, taking what he knows is his. It's true, Claire Redfield belongs to Leon Kennedy, she knows that she always has. She clenches one fist into his shirt, the other slowly rubbing his right thigh, and then she jumps from his grip as the horn of her car blares at them.

The fit of giggles that spills from her body confuses Leon, but she doesn't give him time to think on it, "Done already, Kennedy?"

"Far from it, Red," the seats are spilled back and he pulls her on top of him, hands working on removing he-

" _ **Okay, you can stop right there… You need to stop right there…" Chris holds up his hands and almost looks green, which amuses Rebecca to no end.**_

 _ **Claire leans over the podium and smirks devilishly, "What? Don't want to hear about my conquests?"**_

" _ **Nope, not one bit. Can we get back to what really matters in this story? You know, Sherry?" the B.S.A.A.'s Golden Boy drops into the pew next to Jill, who looks more amused by his state than the medic.**_

 **END of Part Five**


	6. 5 First Cracks

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 **Chapter Five: First Cracks**

Rebecca watches as both Leon and Claire smirk at her fuming and off-set brother, "So there is something that can crack Chris Redfield…"

"Don't," he points at the medic, face dark, "start, Becs. I'm not in the mood. Can we just get on with the story?"

"Okay," Leon steps up, crossing his arms and leaning on his hip against the podium.

The smirk on his face says that upsetting the elder Redfield is something he enjoys, which Rebecca appreciates, "So, after our reconnection when I was released after China, we went out to eat. Little Italian place, I had a salad and pasta primavera, Claire had a salad as well, with veal parmigiana. Three pieces of tiramisu, she ate two. I was going to pay, but it seems clearing my name does not clear my bank account, so Claire paid."

Everyone notices that Leon is staring right at Chris Redfield as he speaks every single word, _Boys will be boys…_

 _ **-June 27**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2022-**_

Leon leans back against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed, breathing normalized and focused, but his mind is so far from focused it's driving him to tap his left foot, _What the hell am I doing? This isn't me… I need to focus, keep them safe…_

Leon knows why he's not focused on the mission: he's so focused on Claire he can BARELY see straight. It's not his normal MO, to be so wrapped up in a woman on the mission, but when was the last time he actually worked alongside Claire? Harvardville, yeah, Harvardville. She was the best part of that mission, hands down. The only thing that none of them know was that Leon was hungover and nursing a pretty devasting alcohol dependency. Claire probably thinks he leapt into a helicopter and jumped headfirst into the airport to save anyone he could, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

"Oh, if only they knew," he chuckles as he remembers the two Marines ripping him from his bed and out from between the legs of Sandra? Monica? Doesn't matter.

Why was he in such bad shape? Spain. When he returned and handed in his report, all they could focus on was that he was infected with the Plagas parasite. Countless tests, blood draws, psychiatric exams, and none of them could give him a final answer on how clean his bill of health was. 'Non-infectious' was all they could tell him. When you aren't sure what day will be your last, you indulge. Alcohol and ass, booze and boobs, tequila and tits, vodka and vagina, liquor and lips, whiskey and women; that's how he spent the next couple of years. Hardvardville happened somewhere between 'tequila and tits' and 'vodka and vagina', but it saved him. Claire had saved him from drowning in his own demons and sorrow.

His eyes flash open and he smiles, "My guardian angel…"

"Who's that?" her voice is like silk as she slips next to him and holds up the flash drive.

Leon quickly pockets the drive and smirks, "You, Claire. Alright, we got the first part of our mission down, so let's get going with clearing the rest of the facility."

" _ **Clearing the facility? Just who are you?**_ " the voice, no longer echoing through the cavern, is easier to identify as female.

Sherry enters the hallway and glances up at the speaker, her right hand resting on the magnum in the thigh holster, "My name is Sherry Birkin, I work for the D.S.O. Who am I talking to?"

" _ **Birkin?**_ " the hair on the back of Leon's neck stands on end, that is the tone of recognition.

As the blonde woman is about to answer, Leon holds a finger over his lips to keep her quiet, "How do you recognize that name?"

Silence, only cut off by the sound of squeaking leather as Leon's fists clench, "ANSWER ME!"

" _ **My name is Christine Henry. Former Director of several major branches of Umbrella Europe. Sherry Birkin… Your father was William, yes?**_ " the voice has a faint French accent, adding to the mysterious nature of their target.

"What's it to you?" Leon watches the girl intently, hoping she's strong enough for what might come next.

Long section of silence with an open line, Christine's breathing the only sound greeting them before she finally responds, " _ **I'm the one who ordered your father's murder so that I could get my hands on the G-Virus.**_ "

 _Oh, there it is… This is Sherry's full-circle… No, this is our full-circle. Raccoon City was infected by the team sent in to retrieve the G-Virus. Our stories started because of this woman… Christine Henry, you are one of the final demons of that fallen city_ , Leon steps up next to Sherry, dropping a hand onto her shoulder to let her know he has her back with whatever she decides.

Blue eyes flash as the little girl they saved in Raccoon City raises her hand up, brandishing a middle finger so magnificent that Chris Redfield is beaming with pride somewhere in the world, "I'm not my father. You'll find killing me to be a tad bit more difficult of a task… Especially since your first murder created me…"

" _ **I've heard you have certain… Gifts, granted to you by the bonding of the G-Virus with your DNA**_ ," this woman knows a lot more about Sherry's life than they all thought possible, which puts Leon even more on edge.

He attempts to retort, but a mass of bright blonde hair flips through the air, "These gifts are going to kick your ass…"

Claire's laugh is loud and energizing, even as she turns and makes her way down the hallway, "Right you are kid, that ass is so kicked…"

Sherry smirks and clicks her tongue before raising the magnum from the holster and following in behind the redhead, "Definitely our kid at this point…"

 _ **-New York, 2022-**_

"I hate to be the one to interrupt this story," Rebecca holds up her hand, "I know you two are taking turns telling this story, but Claire never got to finish her thoughts on how something broke between you two after China…"

"Yeah, you're right, Rebecca…" Leon turns and offers Claire the stand, "I'll let her finish before I continue…"

The redhead smirks and winks at Leon, before sighing heavily and taking herself back to that day, "So after we finished our… Reunion… Leon talked about going out to eat, but I knew I could cook something better…" With a massive groan from Chris…

 _ **-July 13**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2013-**_

"So, how long have they given you off?" Claire drops the dirty plates into the sink as Leon wipes his lips with a napkin.

"Um," he sighs and leans back, "they have to get the government situated, but they can't start that until the investigations are over. Simmons can't be the end of it and they want to find out how deep this 'Family' goes. So, it seems like I'm going to have a little bit of free time," Leon leans back over the chair and watches Claire as she quickly washes the plates. "Got any ideas of what we can do with my free time?"

A smile crosses her lips as she thinks of every single thing they could possibly do together, for each other, and to each other, "There's got to be _**something**_ we can find to do, you know… We are both smart people, something will come to us."

Leon laughs, nods, and slowly rises from the table, "Well, when you think of something we can do, I'll be in the shower. I've had a shower every single day since I got back and I can STILL feel the blood and decay on me."

She watches him leave, her crystal blue eyes flashing as she contemplates joining him, but isn't sure if they are at that point yet, _Girl, you know we are… Get in there._

No movement toward the bathroom, not even a turn as she quickly rinses the dishes and drops them into the basket to drain and dry. He was declared dead, Leon Kennedy, the unkillable Government Agent, was declared dead by the U.S. Government, who then blamed him and Helena Harper for the death of the President. Dead and a traitor, but Leon survived it all and came back, to her. No one else, Claire Redfield is the woman that Leon came home to. This thought makes her smile, makes her yearn, makes her crave and lust after the man currently wet and naked in her bathroom. Claire realizes that Leon is in _her_ bathroom, so she shouldn't have to knock, but it's very masculine of her to just jump into the shower and take him as her own.

 _Redfields don't take no for an answer, right?_ Oh yeah, Claire is having to talk herself into jumping on Leon Kennedy in her own shower.

Well, no time like the present! Claire bolts across her apartment, flings the door open, and gasps as she watches Leon drop to the floor of her shower, hands gripping at the tile, causing his fingers to squeak against the wet walls. The cascading water is hiding any sound he might be making, but Claire is frozen in place and can't make her way in to comfort him, her eyes locked on the scars, stitches, and freshly-dried blood across his back.

"Leon… What happened?" just enough courage to take one single step toward him, but no more.

He stiffens up and slowly rises from the floor of her shower, hand running across his face to clear the water, "My back?"

"Y…yeah…" barely enough courage to make one more step.

The weary Agent sighs, his shoulders dropping in time with the breath, "Simmons mutated into a four-legged beast with a mini-gun made of bone. Yeah, I know how that sounds… He started firing and I dove down to cover her body, to take the damage for her…"

Claire gasps, covering her mouth, backing up on instinct, "Always the protector… Luckily Helena made it out okay…"

Confirm it, confirm that it was Helena and not… "Not Helena… Ada. Simmons was going to kill her. I had to do something…"

That sound, like shattering glass, is Claire's heart breaking again, "You nearly died to save Ada, huh? Must've had something important on her for that to happen…"

"Yeah," he turns to face her, his eyes haunted, face sullen, "she had everything I needed to clear our names and start dismantling Simmons' "Family". Definitely worth it."

"I'm glad you made it back and it all worked out then," she turns a bit to exit the bathroom, "I'll leave you to your shower, Kennedy."

"Thanks, Claire," the redhead closes the door and makes her way toward the dining room table, where his phone is flashing.

"Well, don't mind if I do…" she slides the screen up and her ice blue eyes perfectly reflect the message greeting her.

" _Thanks for saving me, I guess we're even, A_ ," huh, so she has this number too, figures.

Claire glances back at the closed bathroom door, down at the message, and back to the bathroom door. She feels it in her bones that he's never going to stop, never going to be there for her as completely as she will be for him. Lord knows he can talk a good game and if she gives him a chance he might actually be able to convince her to stay. With a solid nod, Claire makes her decision. She leaves the phone open, message available for him to read once he gets out of the shower, grabs her jacket, and quickly leaves her own apartment.

No phone on her for him to reach her at, no way for him to convince her to stay, as he's clearly made his choice. The feminine Redfield loves and cares with one hundred percent of her soul, so she deserves no less than complete devotion from the man in her life. She's been hurt too many times now to accept anything but his complete adoration and affection.

Her feet slowly clamber down the stairs of her apartment complex, giving her time to think and solidify her decision. Maybe one day he will come around, see her as more than just home, see her as she sees him: Everything. No tears this time, no sobs, no sadness, Claire Redfield has said her piece and has made peace with it.

 _Goodbye, Leon…_

 _ **-New York, 2022-**_

The church is silent, no one entirely sure what to say to this, Rebecca pretty sure that Leon and Claire might just be the most explosive couple out of all of the survivors. It's not even because they just aren't going to work, but because it's obvious that they want it to, that they need it to work. Claire quickly glances at Leon and returns to her seat next to Chris, who seems a little uncomfortable and is glaring at Agent Kennedy.

"Yeah… So, as you all know now, Sherry was right… Um…. So, there's Christine Henry, who has finally revealed herself as our target…."

 _ **-New Delhi, June 27**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2022-**_

Claire perches at the edge of the hallway, slowly peeking around the corner, pistol raised and ready to shoot as she rounds the corner, "Clear…"

Sherry steps up next, then quickly follows behind, helping clear the rest of the hallway as Leon guards their rear, still hating how the floor beneath their feet shifts constantly. Part of him wonders how it will be to run on this floor while the other part of him doesn't necessarily want to find out. Christine Henry, one of the last remaining vestiges of Umbrella, has built this facility, but for what purpose? If these things crawling around in the dirt aren't created by a virus, what does that mean for the future of Bio-Organic Weapons? Will the new generation of mad scientist be able to grow their own monsters in home-based labs?

 _Creepy Crawlers 2.0_ , the thought makes Leon cringe a bit.

Documents on Genetic Manipulation aren't nearly as monitored as potential Black-Market viral sales, so this could be the start of a massive surge in potential bio-terror attacks around the world. Why can't some things just die? Why can't Umbrella stay buried, stay dead, why must it continuously return and make things worse? Hopefully the nightmare will finally die for all them when Christine Henry is either in custody or dead; the nightmare of Raccoon City ends today it seems.

Leon hears it too late, the splitting hatch in the ceiling, the motors and servos revving before the explosions of gunfire fill the hallway, "GET THE FUCK DOWN!"

Every single ounce of energy in his body drops from his upper half and powers his legs and feet into a massive sprint, Claire reflected in one eye, Sherry reflected in the other. Claire is already diving toward a door, firing into the lock to break it open, while Sherry is dropping down. Bullets begin to riddle the ground around them, he's not going to make it.

Time almost stands still, Leon reaching for Sherry in such slow motion that it actually hurts him. Until the burning pain in his arm begins to spin him around, knocking him off balance, which wasn't hard to do because the floor is really hard to run on. His only thought as he falls to the ground is to just get back up, get back up, and save his daughter. Sherry has rolled to her right and is now firing a couple of shots toward the gun emplacement as Claire reaches out of the door for him.

 _Get it together, Kennedy, you are stronger than a fucking bullet!_ He grunts through the pain and pushes up, his right arm extending out to pull Sherry with him into the open door.

The warm rush of blood covers his shirt and makes his skin slick as the bundle of D.S.O. Agents rolls into the room, "Holy shit, that fucking hurts…"

Sherry rolls from his arms and checks herself, "Leon…"

"Yeah kid," he leans against a desk and rolls the sleeve up, the wound is a through-and-through in his lower arm, "You okay?"

Pressure is applied to the wound as Claire sets about finding something to wrap it, allowing him a chance to glance at the blonde woman. There are several holes in the jacket that she tosses to the ground, but she seems to be okay, the only blood on her body coming from his own wound.

"Okay… Yeah… That was damned close…"

Red hair appears at his side and then there is a massive spike of pressure and pain in his arm, "Tell me about it, Kennedy. How did we miss that gun emplacement?"

"Disguised as part of the ventilation system," he feels it return, the Soldier, the Warrior, and he hates every second of it.

Opening himself up during a mission has almost cost them their lives and he's not going to let it happen again, "We're going to need to find another way around that turret."

He watches it click in Claire's eyes, sees her realize that she's now dealing with the Soldier, "Yeah. You got it, Leon."

 _I'm going to do whatever it takes, be whatever it takes to get us through this mission intact. Please understand that, Claire_ , he knows he should say it, but he can't afford the distraction as he scans the room, looking for a possible weak spot to move through.

" _ **How in the hell did you all not die?" Rebecca didn't even notice that everyone moved closer to them while Leon talked about the auto-turret, so Jill's voice startles her when it's so close.**_

 _ **Leon rubs the back of his neck, "I'm still not sure. That moment plays in my mind just as much as the moment we lost Sherry, and I still can't explain it. Luck? Divine Intervention if you believe in that?"**_

 _ **Claire steps up and offers a smile and a hand on his shoulder, "Take a seat, Kennedy, it's my turn…"**_

" _ **You sure? Are you up for this part of the story?" his voice is dark, telling them all that they are closer to the truth, to the moment when Sherry Birkin was killed.**_

 _ **She sighs heavily, a distinct Redfield sigh, "No, but neither of us are and you know that."**_

 **END of Part Six**


	7. 6 Missing Shards

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 **Chapter Six: Missing Shards**

Blue eyes framed by a crown of burnt sienna-colored hair watch Claire as she steps up to the podium and nods slowly, clearly working up the courage to continue the dark tale. Trying to keep her love of them all out of it, Rebecca sees definitively how broken they all are without the little blonde girl rescued from Raccoon City. Everyone has moved forward and are now piled together in the front two pews, desperate to hear more, enthralled by every word.

"Yeah, auto-turrets are now a thing in labs… Pack your Kevlar boys," there is a small chuckle as Rebecca imagines the church turning back into the lab, with a bleeding Leon, angry Claire, and worried Sherry.

 _ **-Dubai, June 27**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2022-**_

Claire watches as Leon rebuilds his Soldier walls faster than she ever thought was possible, "Any ideas on a way out?"

A shake of his head, but he doesn't give up, tapping on the walls, looking for a thin barrier, ultimately finding their only option is back into the hallway with the auto-turret watching them, "I'll go first, see if I ca- what?"

Crystal-clear eyes flash as Claire reaches into her pack, pulls out a small bit of C4 and the detonator, and she shakes her head, "I got this, hotshot."

The redhead deftly snaps a detonator into the glob of C4, activates the signal, leans out the door slowly, and in a move that will definitely make Chris proud, tosses the explosive at the turret. She watches its arc with a deft eye, fingers poised on the switch, ready to destroy that death machine as soon as her weapon hits its target. Her index finger activates the switch while her thumb presses down on the red button and she ducks back into the room as heat, sound, and smoke fill the hallway.

There is something in his eyes as the two of them stand up; it could be anger at her being so careless, it could be regret that he didn't think of it first, or it could be pain as the explosion might've shaken his arm and aggravated his wound a little more, "Why do men always like trying to do things the hard way?"

"Just how we're programmed, I presume, Red," a flash of the rookie, so it does seem like he's trying to merge the two versions of himself.

This realization makes her smile a little, but she knows she can't allow herself to get distracted, not when there are now obviously well-hidden death-traps awaiting them. Leon steps out first, gun poised for center-mass on a humanoid target or headshots on one of the Graboids. Claire smirks and holds out her hand, which Sherry nods at and exits the room after the older agent. The redhead holds up her own handgun, checks it, and follows after them with a bit of a smile on her face.

 _I always thought he wouldn't let himself be with me because I wasn't good enough. That I didn't give him enough of a thrill or challenge like Ada did. I see now though, he never truly thought he was good enough for me…_ Blue eyes pull her head to the side and she glances at Sherry, _I guess being around Sherry, seeing the girl we rescued together grow into an amazing woman, he can finally see what he has, what he deserves, he can finally see me._

Sherry apparently notices this smile on her face and slows her step a bit and pokes the redhead with her elbow, "What's got you in such a good mood? Or should I ask who?"

"Shut it," Claire blushes a bit and shakes her head, putting on her best attempt at a serious face, "Now isn't the time, Sherry…"

"Uh huh…" the smaller woman smirks and resumes her position between Leon and Claire, "I'll let it go, for now…"

She's thankful that their team leader finally drops the subject; they can't afford these distractions right now. Her point is proven as Leon stops at the beginning of an intersection, peaks out, leans back in, roots through his pack, tosses a chunk of explosive down the hall, and squeezes the trigger, destroying another possible gun emplacement.

"One more down," he pulls up his handgun and vanishes around the corner, prompting the two to quickly follow after him.

Even with a wound like the one he has, Claire still sees the Government's training coursing through his body, forcing her to have to almost jog to keep up with him as he sweeps the hallway and its doors, checking for traps and possible exits. Most of the doors are locked and not worth their time to open at this point. One more turn and the trio finds itself facing one large door emblazoned with a biohazard symbol.

"When's the last time you actually saw a door with this symbol on it?" Claire taps it with the barrel of her own handgun.

A chuckle from Leon as he replies, "Raccoon City. You?"

"Rockfort Island… This definitely settles it…" she faces him and they share a long gaze.

Both of them reply at the same time as the door flies open, "Definitely Umbrella."

There is a rush of cold air and dense fog that precedes the darkness within, "Hello? Housekeeping here with turn-down service…"

"Not the time," Claire glares at the man standing next to her, but she secretly appreciates the humor.

The crackling sound of raw electricity greets them as a series of lights begin to flicker on, starting from the center of the room and quickly spiraling outward, "A fucking Tesla Coil!?"

" _ **It is definitely not the safest method of lighting my facility, but it is the least trackable… Welcome to my research laboratory, where nightmares are home-grown,**_ " oh, Christine Henry is still floating around…

"We'll circle around, take whatever looks interesting, then blow this bitch," Leon keeps the handgun at the ready as he leads the two women around the room.

A smile crosses the lips of Claire as Sherry pulls out a voice recorder to record everything that Christine is going to say, allowing them to focus on finding the data they need. Speak she does, rambling on about being a God, having been baptized by the fire that destroyed Umbrella after the events of the 2003 dissolution of the pharmaceutical giant. Some things never change with these people, Claire having a hard time paying even a little bit of attention to her words as it's stuff she has definitely heard before, many times. A computer to the left seems promising, Claire quickly bringing it out of sleep mode and rooting through the files, finding a few things that could be promising.

"Wait, did she just say something about playthings?" Leon's words are lost on her, but it's the floor that really grabs her attention.

She backs up from the computer, "Guys, the floor is solid…" her handgun is poised for shots into the ground and the pack of explosives is unzipped and left open.

Her feet no longer sink, shift, or roll with each step, but her footfalls now echo around them with solid thuds, attention-drawing thuds. Leon is the first to notice her steps, trading his handgun for the Desert Eagle and snapping his fingers to grab the blonde's attention. Sherry slowly pivots toward them, her eyes shaking a little with apprehension which Claire knows both of them share with their Team Leader.

" _ **Oh, seems I finally caught your attention again. You three are not going to make it out of here alive, I'm afraid. My precious TW-003's will see to that,**_ " there is even an audible screech as Christine severs the feed from wherever she is holed up.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," the words fall from Sherry's lips as the three Agents gather toward the center of the room on light steps.

"Yeah, we need to keep a bit of explosive ready for whatever decides to show up first…" Leon's words are solid and heavy, mimicked by Sherry's movements as she drops to a knee and starts prepping several globs of plastique.

Red hair falls around blue eyes as Claire looks toward the door they entered from, "We could probably make it to the door without running, you know, light steps…"

Just like that, with barely a mention, blast doors slam down over the three known exits from Dr. Henry's lab, "I'm done talking now…"

Her quip might've made one of them laugh at a different time, but Claire knows that the Graboids pose a much greater threat than most of the other B.O.W.s they have encountered since Raccoon City over 20 years ago. She attempts to look at Leon, but the first small quake steals her momentum and almost sends all three of them to the ground. Tables rattle, glass beakers jingle and jangle, and keyboards clatter as the trio pick themselves up and prepare for whatever is about to happen. Something snaps overhead, with Claire surprised at how fast Leon responds with pushing the two women off to the side, the light fixture crashing down behind them by only a few short inches.

"That's going to piss them off…" the elder member of the D.S.O. keeps his magnum levelled at the ground, ready to shoot the first thing to burst through the ground.

It's not long after that when the sound of wrenching metal greets them and the first Graboid makes its appearance, lunging from the ground and attacking the light fixture by dropping its massive weight down upon it. Blood sprays into the air as bits of the mangled fixture dig into the flesh of the monster, the scent of it heavy with iron and decay. A hand is held up to stop Claire from tossing the explosive currently stuck in her grip, recognizing immediately that he wants them to watch how this thing reacts.

 _God it's ear-piercing…_ Claire squints her eyes at how loud the beast is while it thrashes about.

More movement from underfoot, causing Claire to jump away as the metal she was once standing on erupts in a spray of sparks, dirt, and debris. Another Graboid launches through the air, dropping onto the first one, more blood spraying through the air, but not from the new attacker. This one slithers away and quickly burrows back through the metal flooring, vanishing just as quickly as it appeared.

Three pairs of eyes return to the light fixture and the first monster to appear, "Is it dead?"

Whispered just softly enough to be heard, Sherry's question resonates among the trio, their eyes still locked on its pierced form hung from the twisted metal like a rotisserie chicken, "Yeah, kid, I think so…"

"One more, right?" she holds up her revolver, locking gazes with both of them, and Claire has never seen the little girl they rescued from Raccoon City more determined, surer of herself.

There is an uneasy quiet that befalls the entire laboratory, immediately setting them all on high-alert. Slowly they make their way through the lab, their faces sporadically illuminated by the flashing lights surrounding the Tesla Coil that fills the center of the room. Claire can't help but feel a small pang of fear creep up into her body, just knowing that at any second they could be swallowed up by one of these tunneling monstrosities will definitely put the fear even in God. If they don't stop Christine and her monsters, much of Dubai and India itself could fall to her machinations.

The blast door before them is heavy, thick, and going to be impossible to get through, "The damn door even tore into the ground when she closed it…" Leon kicks the small pile of shattered metal and concrete to accentuate the point.

"That means our only option is to go down the tunnels they erupted from…" Claire watches as her words resonate through Leon and Sherry, causing their eyes to shift from the door and back toward the two holes in the lab's floor.

Three pairs of blue eyes gaze over the wrenched metal and into the dark abyss below, "Well, shall we go, Alice?"

"Tumbling down and down the rabbit hole, White Rabbit," Claire answers Leon and quickly jumps down the hole, handgun and flashlight in hand.

The air in the tunnel is disgustingly warm, the dirt underfoot, around and above her, is slick with slime, and Claire drops to a knee to save her a bit of injury from the fall. The light flips around the tunnel to illuminate threats, but finds none, allowing the redhead to call out almost silently for Leon and Sherry to join her.

Two thudding drops behind her signal she is no longer alone and the TerraSave Agent begins moving forward, "I can't believe these things are able to tear through metal and reinforced concrete…"

"They are definitely some pretty serious threats… If they get loose these things will be able to sink entire cities," Sherry's words ring true through them all.

There are only a few more meters before the tunnel drops in a steep decline, which Claire promptly holsters her handgun and flashlight, and then jumps down before Leon and Sherry can protest. With one foot in front of her to slice through the muck, one arm in front of her face to block it from said muck, and a scowl on her face to send a Tyrant to its knees, Claire slides through the tunnel like a woman determined to destroy everything. Behind her she can barely make out the sound of her partners sliding down as well.

 _This is it, I know this is where Sherry can close the last page on her Raccoon City Story_ , Claire sees a bit of light breaking through the darkness before her, signaling the end of the ride.

Black and bleak gives way to white and bright as the three soldiers slide into a pristine white facility. Claire quickly scrapes to a stop and stands up, Sherry ends up behind her, and Leon, in true Special Agent fashion, catches a foot in the tile and flips through the air to his feet. A glare from the redhead shows him he is a showoff, which he just returns with a grin and a thumbs up.

"Where are we now?" all three brandish their weapons and begin to walk through the chamber, which is quickly determined to be the original laboratory where the Graboids were originally created.

" _ **Welcome to my humble abode, my little rats. This is, sadly, the end of the maze for you all. This is your one look behind the curtain and where your show ends**_ ," Christine's voice bounces around the chamber, adding a nauseating warbling effect to her words.

Sherry steps up, clenching her revolver and delivering a fierce scowl, "Enough of this. The only story that is going to end today is yours, Dr. Henry. The story you started the day you demanded my father's virus and set off not only his mutation and mine, but also the destruction of Raccoon City that brought about the end of the company you worked for and believed in, ends now. So, come out here and face the fucking music, you sanctimonious bitch!"

Silence, pure and blissful silence permeates the air as Leon and Claire beam like proud parents, " _ **You little brat. I'll make sure you never walk out of here again.**_ "

Claire takes this moment to glance around the room they are basically trapped in, _I have a really bad feeling about this, now…_

" _ **I don't get it," Chris's voice draws them all from the story, "we tracked everyone down related to Umbrella except for a few minor scientists and researchers. How did Christine Henry, the woman responsible for the NE-Alpha and the Nemesis Tyrant, sneak by us so easily?"**_

" _ **She was smart, used all of the resources of the European Branch of Umbrella to vanish, erase herself from the world except for a few documents just mentioning her," Leon's voice is calm, calmer than it should be when they are this close to the end of Sherry's story.**_

 _ **Jill lowers her hands from her face and sighs heavily, "We're close, aren't we?"**_

 _ **Both Claire and Leon nod, with Leon stepping up to the podium, his hands clenching it just as hard as they did the first time he started telling this story, "Yeah… Soon enough you will all see the end of the Raccoon City Story…"**_

 **End of Part Seven**


	8. 7 Shattered Mirror

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 **Chapter Seven: Shattered Mirror**

Leon stands before the gathered Biohazard survivors and warriors, his face stern, demeanor calm, and the only sign of worry over what he is about to talk about is the small line of sweat forming on his forehead, "Sand, it gets in everywhere and _**never**_ wants to leave… Like memories and regret."

The church walls start to glow a deep yellow, then quickly turn bright white, and morph into the pristine white walls of the lab Claire, Sherry, and he found themselves in….

 _ **-New Delhi-**_

Leon's trained eyes have already scanned the room and pointed out several potential threats, possible weapons, and even locations for hidden information or caches, "We are all going to get out of here no problem, do you know why?"

" _ **I tire of hearing you speak, Miss Birkin… I shall humor you one last time**_ ," _Oh, someone is a little sassy now…_

"You have been living in secret, in hiding, invisible to the world since Raccoon City ended. You were never prepared for someone to waltz in here… You weren't even prepared to properly contain you own projects. I see you for what you really are. You weren't a scientist, you didn't create anything back in the day, you just told people what to do, what to make… That's why this all got out, that is exactly the reason why we are going to get the hell out of here with you in chains…" there is this bright, happy feeling of pride that fills Leon as he listens to Sherry's words.

Leon waits for it and smiles wide when, " _ **Fuck you**_."

"You know," the little blonde woman leans against the table and smirks up at the speaker, "those words sound even angrier in a French accent."

Claire tries to fight it, but actually lets a laugh slip from her lips as Leon high-fives their Team-Leader, "Alright, so what's the plan, kiddo?"

"Order one: stop calling me kiddo," the redhead behind them laughs louder, "order two: find Christine Henry and apprehend her while putting her creations down."

The brunette Agent nods and starts a sweep of the room, looking for anything useful. He starts with the desks, quickly pulling the drawers open and rifling through them for anything useful. Finding nothing, he jumps to the filing cabinets, yanking drawers open and slipping through the files and folders, still finding absolutely nothing.

"Get the feeling this room is a decoy?" Claire's spoken thoughts force Leon to kick himself.

His eyes rocket back toward the hole they slid down with such force it cracks his neck, "We need to go. NOW!"

The tunnel is obviously going to be too slick to climb back up, but there is another small door off to the right he noticed when he first scanned the room. He leads them two women toward it and rips the door open, finding it opening up to another long corridor lined with cables, metal piping, and bright fluorescent lighting. Their feet pound down the tile as a metal security shutter begins to lower over the only other exit before them.

"Ready?" he hears Claire respond with a positive so he reaches back, grabs her extended hand, spins around, and launches her toward the door.

She slides along the ground, using her feet to force the door open, and vanishes into the dark beyond its opening. Sherry is next, but she takes his arm, spins around, plants her feet on his chest, and launches herself off of him and into the door. _Your turn, old man_ , he forces his feet down faster and harder, forcing his body into a full-on sprint before he lunges for the door. There is a single second where he thinks he might not actually make it, but an outstretched hand helps pull him just past the slamming shutter.

Leon flips to his feet and smirks at Claire and Sherry, "That was a rush!"

"Yeah," the redhead looks around the dark room, "a rush… That's how I always see a trap."

This is when Sherry jumps between them with a massive smile on her face, "That was amazing! Are all missions from the D.S.O. going to be this full of death traps, schemes, and creepy scientists!? This is so much more fun than what I went through in Edonia and China!"

Leon arcs his head over Sherry's and smirks at Claire, "See, think of the young ones, Red."

"Mmhmm, that's you rubbing off on her," he laughs out loud at this and quickly moves next to Claire.

He leans in, brushes the hair from over her ear, and smiles, "And her bright and happy attitude, along with her empathy and caring… Both of those are all you, Claire. We made a good kid, didn't we?"

He will never be able to explain why he said it, but Leon is going to forever remember the goosebumps that appear on her neck and the shuddering breath she releases before she pats him on the chest and replies, "Yup, we did good, Kennedy."

"Hey, guys? I think we made a mistake by coming into this room…" the trembling tone in the blonde's voice causes Leon and Claire to spin around as a series of lights flicker on.

Three pairs of eyes follow the lights to a, well, MASSIVE container or cell, but what really shocks them is the creature within, "Do you think that Christine maybe has a thing for the Victorian Era and its mythology? First, she uses Tesla's energy conduits, now this?"

"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change," Leon quotes Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and it is the most appropriate reference he can make for what sits before them.

Lightning sparks from several metal protrusions grafted over the joints of the very large humanoid body. A metal jaw has been grafted onto the face of the beast, which only further accentuates the flashing purple eyes. Something moves in the chamber, Leon's eyes slowly moving up to see that the creature is watching him move around its little prison.

"Well, hello there…" the beast nods slowly, like it might actually hear him through the thick glass.

He puts on his fakest smile and slowly backs away from the container, "Anyone have any ideas on how to kill this thing?"

"She made a sixteen-foot tall Frankenstein, powered by nearly limitless electric energy, and is possibly as strong as it is big?" Claire's voice is comforting even when filled with such trepidation, "No, I have no idea about how to kill this thing."

Sherry's voice is next, shaking with a bit of fear that experience hasn't yet taught her to squash down, "Guys, I'm almost positive that it can hear us… Look…"

The monster is now standing, facing them, and looking down at them with an almost inquisitive expression, "Oh, that is just absolutely amazing… I don't want to ask, but do you think it can understand us?"

Suddenly the air is filled with thick chunks of reinforced glass, debris, and a scream of rage so powerful that it sends all three agents to the ground. Leon is the first to rise to his feet, staring at the monster as it exits the shattered chamber. Claire steps up on his right while Sherry steps up to his left, all three of them quickly brandishing their firearms and taking aim.

"One," Leon aims at its head.

"Two," Claire follows his aim.

"Three!" all three of them fire their weapons, the flashes from the barrels dim against the crackling lightning of their foe.

Leon watches it happen in slow motion, the bullets losing their momentum the closer they get, until eventually they are just floating a short distance away from the creature's face. It stares at the bullets, before finally leaning in, opening its mouth, and biting down on them. The taste is apparently unpleasant as it growls and spits them back at the trio.

" _ **Oh, you've found the grand prize… I've always been a fan of the classics… Bubonic Plague, Revolutions, Frankenstein. The classics are where power resides. Where it dwells, festers, and grows… Die to my maturing power…**_ " _Yeah, she's lost it…_

No more thought can be tossed Christine's way as _I'm calling you, Frank,_ tosses a piece of its prison cell at them. They all successfully dodge with Sherry calling out for cover fire as she reloads her revolver. Leon obliges, ejecting his own empty magazine and driving another one home before unloading more heavy rounds into the approaching monstrosity.

Bright lights appear above them, which reveals to Leon a pretty frightening truth, "This thing is a walking Tesla Coil… It must be recycling its own electric energy through the coil."

"How do we stop that, Kennedy?" Claire has traded her handgun for the submachine gun that has been resting against the small of her back since they arrived in India.

The quick pops of the weapon cause Leon to step up his own onslaught, not wanting the beast to focus on anyone other than himself. Frank steps back from the shots, reaches down to grasp two chunks of the twisted metal and glass, and then tosses them toward the trio.

Blue eyes flash and he knows one of the pieces is heading toward Claire, which he immediately reacts to, "Get down!"

Leon jumps to his right, pushing Claire down to the ground as the large chunk of metal screams overhead. It crashes harmlessly behind him and the duo rises to their feet, already pumping more rounds into Frank as he charges at them. Raw organic energy, this thing is pure, unfiltered organic energy, so how can they use it to kill this thing? Overhead, something overhead is trying to grab his attention. Leon and Claire dive left and right as it swings, stomps, and tosses things at them.

"Overhead! There's a massive water pipeline!" her voice is welcoming to the panic in his mind.

The large blue pipes are exactly what were calling his name earlier, "Seems almost too easy, doesn't it?"

"Take the gift, Kennedy, and fire!" Leon jumps forward, spins around to land on his back, and as he slides across the floor he fires several rounds into the pipes, hoping to cause a crack that will coat their enemy in the short-circuiting liquid.

There are several more booms far off behind him, Sherry's revolver helping him out, and the pipe finally gives, exploding with a spray of cold water. There is a large shriek from Frank as the electricity sparks across his entire body, singeing and crackling the skin as it flakes off. The cracks that appear over its joints flash with a purple energy that Leon immediately starts pelting with more .50AE rounds. They do the job, each successful bullet causing a spark of clearly uncontrolled energy that sparks around its body, causing the form to glow and burn, crackling to life with a deep red fire.

 _Six shots, why aren't you reloading, Sherry?_ Leon flips over a table effortlessly, but his feet never slam into the ground as a painful heat and numbing shock fill his body.

"Leon!" Claire fires into the hand that has wrapped around the Government Agent as Leon's vision quickly fades.

Pure instinct kicks in as Leon pulls the large machete resting at the small of his back, barely managing to remove it from the sheathe let alone drive it into one of the closest joints within his shortened reach. The blade grinds against bone and forces a roar from the monster squeezing the very life from him like Leon was just a bottle of ointment or squeezable sour cream. The grip loosens enough for Leon to readjust his grip and really drive the blade home in the joint of the massive finger.

"Let…" the blade begins to bend as Leon applies more pressure, "me…" skin snaps, muscle tears, bones creak, "go, asshole!" the finger drops away as burning blood covers the smaller human.

The pain must be enough as the grip is loosened completely and Leon is able to drop to the floor, his entire body screaming from the pressure it was just under. Claire quickly helps him up and the two continue their run around the room, their minds still stuck on finding a way to stay ahead of this monster and find a solution to its death.

"Leon, look…" Claire slows down, which forces Leon to spin around and watch the scene unfold.

The flames have started to truly consume Frank's body, so much so that he has started to sway, and then he falls to the floor, shattering desks, tables, and workbenches. The beast is not dead, not by a long shot, as Frank continues to reach for them and pull himself along the floor.

"This fire is going to spread fast when it hits anything burnable…" Leon quickly guides Claire around the burning form that is swinging wildly, sending flaming chunks of flesh into the air.

Leon scans the room for something to help really end this beast for good and is greeted with pain as Frank appears from over a pile of burning rubble and delivers a pretty solid straight punch right to his head. Lights flash before going out, only the sound and pain of his body crashing through tables and lab equipment enough to keep him conscious. Shapes, colors, and movement start to come back into focus, the first thing greeting him through the fog is a face adorned in blonde hair.

"Sherry! Awesome, let's go," he reaches out and takes her hand in his, the revolver clattering to the ground, "pick it up and keep moving…"

She's a little lighter on her feet than he remembers, maybe she's been training in her downtime. Sounds of battle peppered with gunshots up ahead, Claire's still holding her own. Leon shakes his head to clear the fog, finding a bit more focus that he spends on keeping an ear on Claire and an eye on Frank. Soft feet scuttling over a metal table, soft voice cursing as she falls into a pile of shattered glass vials, and a cold grip returning his.

"Leon! I… Oh god… Leon, why…?" her words confuse him, the look on her face frightens him, and the sudden realization almost crushes him.

Blue eyes slowly turn back from the redhead in front of him and rests on the form of Sherry Birkin, or really, what remains of her. He follows the trail of blood back to where he found her, his blood running cold at the sight of her lower left arm and most of her lower half rest on the other side of a massive chunk of the glass cage Frank tossed at them. Blood covers everything around the impact site, but none of that matters as he is still holding her ice-cold hand in his.

So many years of conditioning, from the Government, their missions, and his own ordeals with the undead and bioweapons, they can prepare you for everything… Almost. He's lost team members, allies, strangers he was trying to save, but none of that really compares to what he is forced to deal with now.

"Leon… She's… Sherry is…" Sherry died trying to save them, she died because Leon decided to save Claire, "I'm… Sherry?"

He knows that part of him is broken by her death, he also knows that he should be putting that aside and finishing the mission, but fuck it all. Sherry is dead, not because of a monster, not because of a virus, that girl is dead because he made a choice. It's like D.C. all over again. Another life lost to a decision, another bad decision. Her eyes used to sparkle with her hopefulness that everything will get better, now they are just dark and lifeless.

"Leon…" Claire tugs at the back of his jacket, he just shrugs her hand off, tears building up in the corners of his eyes.

 _My fault… It's my fault… Sherry is dead because…_ he shakes his head to clear the thought, but it returns almost immediately with a massive vengeance.

Claire pulls the revolver from the puddle of blood, slipping it into her pouch as she reaches up to close her open eyes, "Leon, we need to keep going…"

" **No, no you don't…" Jakes stands up and glares right at the pair standing at the altar, "I've seen Sherry recover from some amazing injuries, stuff I was sure she'd be dead from. How were the two of you so sure she was dead!? What if she could have been saved?"**

" **When the G-Virus bonded with her DNA, it gave her amazing healing powers, yes…" Claire locks her saddened gaze with Jake's fierce eyes, "But even that couldn't save her after being cut in half. The virus was able to keep her alive long enough to help us against Frank. She suffered immensely in those last moments with her mind solely focused on saving us. I can never forgive myself for letting her die alone like that, but I will forever be grateful for how she spent her last moments protecting us."**

" **None of that fucking matters!" Jake punches the pew in front of him, "She is dead and none of your gratefulness, your regret, your forgiveness can bring her back!"**

" **Claire has nothing to be forgiven for," Leon's voice is a lot more solid than it has been since he stepped up to tell the story, "I chose to save Claire. In the moment, when I knew I could only save one of them, I chose Claire. Sherry's death rests squarely on my shoulders, so take it out on me if you have to…"**

 **And he does… Before anyone can act or react, Jake has leapt over the pews, jumped up to the altar, and drives a strong fist into Leon's face. The Agent could've dodged it, could've blocked it, or even turned Jake's own momentum against him, but he doesn't. The punch is solid and true, blood immediately pouring from his mouth, lips, and nose.**

" **Jake!"**

" **I hope you die for this, you piece of shit! You killed the only thing in this world I care for!" another punch, another, one more followed by several more, with Leon just lying there and letting Jake pound his face into raw hamburger meat.**

 **Chris steps behind Jake and quickly picks him up in a Full-Nelson, applying enough pressure to Jake's neck to force the younger man to stop, "This is enough! This isn't doing any good, Jake!"**

" **Fuck off, Redfield! You killed the father I never knew and Leon killed the woman I found my redemption in!" he struggles against the hold, but Chris isn't letting go, not until he is sure Jake isn't going to kill Leon.**

 **The struggle turns to silence, Jake's eyes stained with tears as Chris slowly releases the hold, "She's dead and I'm never going to get her back…"**

 _ **END**_


	9. 8 Empty Shards

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 **Chapter Eight: Empty Shards**

Leon nursing a busted lip and a swollen eye reflects in Claire's own eyes before she turns to face the crowd before her, "Remember how you described him when you two found him in Colorado during the Arias Event?" Chris nods slowly at her question, "You described him as broken. Like he forced himself so far out of how the world works that he himself forgot how to work. When I saw him dragging her body, when I saw that look on his face, I knew I couldn't let him break again."

Blood splatters along the ground, pews break and twist, and the gathered figures morph into machinery and debris, "How far would you risk breaking yourself in order to stop someone else from breaking?"

 _ **-New Delhi-**_

Leon stares down at Sherry's dead body, not moving, not speaking, barely showing any signs that he hasn't just died along with her, "Kennedy, we need to go… Frank isn't going to stop just because one of our friends died…"

"Our child…" this catches Claire completely off-guard, but it finally sinks in what he meant.

"Yeah," she places a hand on his shoulder and rubs it softly, "killed our child… We need to show him that you don't kill a child of Raccoon City."

There is a scraping sound as Leon picks his Desert Eagle off the tiled floor, "We have a job to do…" he slowly stands up, the magazine being ejected, checked, and slammed back home with practiced and robotic precision.

Red hair fills the air as she spins and stands beside her partner, "This bitch is going to pay for Sherry."

Frank refuses to let the duo forget about his presence, the monster roaring loudly and clambering over the destroyed machinery with hands set alight by the arcing electricity flowing from its joints. Leon looks at the monster, his face tight and masking all emotion, and he fires three rounds right into the face of the monster. Blood sprays into the air as Frank rears up and roars in pain, but the Agent is having none of it as he fires four more rounds into the neck and chest before ejecting the empty magazine and slamming another one home. Three magazines left after this one, but that count is just automatic, his mind squarely focused on killing the beast that killed one of the best things he saved and helped carry into this world. Sherry might not have been his real biological child, but that doesn't matter, she was his _**KID**_!

Another magazine drops to the ground as Leon manages one more step toward the creature, "Just die already!"

Empty clicks fill the air, shallow breaths leave his lungs, and Claire's hand is tight on his shoulder, "I think you got it, tiger."

Frank, or what remains of it, lies motionless before the pair, its face mashed into almost nothingness by the assault and focused fire. Blood pools from the mash of meat and bone, covering the ground quickly, threatening to coat their footwear in its crimson stain. Claire takes the magnum from Leon's grip, reloads it, and returns it back to his hand, but his eyes never leave the broken form of the monster before them.

Sparks clash from the body against the ceiling, floor, and debris surrounding them, striking some of the wooden waste alight, "We should go."

A nod to let her know he agrees, but he is basically dragged out of the room by Claire, his eyes and mind locked on the blood-covered form of the blonde woman they followed into this lab of horrors. As the dark and flame-filled lab is replaced by stark white halls, Leon still isn't operating at even fifty percent of his usual Leon-ness. The badass who took on Ariego on top of a skyscraper, the Secret Agent who went toe-to-toe with a Plagas-fueled Krauser, even the rookie cop who strolled into Raccoon City on a Jeep rented from Enterprise wouldn't recognize the man resting in that same body.

 _ **You've seen death before, suck it up**_ , Secret Agent Leon fills his head and pushes the image of the lifeless Sherry from view.

 _This isn't just some random villager or civilian_ ,his retort is half-hearted at best.

Ariego-killing Leon speaks up next, **You've lost men you've trained and worked with for years**.

 _Hah, this is so much more than losing that Metro S.W.A.T. Team…_

 _Compartmentalize it, just like you used to back in Raccoon, Kennedy_ , it's surprising Rookie Leon who saves the day with some advice he's just taken as muscle memory all these years.

 _Think it's that easy now? We just watched the little girl you saved back then die…_

 _Yeah, we did._ Rookie Leon steps between the other two versions of himself and smirks, _What would she say right about now? It's happened, we'll deal with it later._

Leon knows that statement all too well, it's something he told Sherry after the events of Edonia and China. The girl was strong, absolutely, but even like the rest of them, she had her limits. It was after they were debriefed by the US Government and the B.S.A.A. when Sherry, Claire, and Leon were finally reunited…

- _ **New York, 2014**_ —

Leon drops into the recliner and uses the momentum to easily prop his feet up onto the table in the center of the Government Apartment, "Take what you want from the fridge, Uncle Sam has it covered."

He feels Claire almost ask if he wants anything and it makes him smile to know that she didn't notice that as soon as he sat down, the bottle of whiskey was slid from under the chair and poured into a glass. Sherry has been silent the entire ride back and continues to be so now, sitting down on the far end of the couch and pulling her knees up to her chest. Claire returns from the kitchen and sits down next to Sherry, sitting a tea down in front of the younger woman while she sips a cup of hot tea.

"Well, that was enough adventure for a lifetime…" he swirls the glass and downs another pass of the whiskey.

Claire smirks and blows some of the steam away from her tea, "Maybe next time I'll get to go… Diving?"

"Seriously?" Leon turns to face the redhead and shakes his head, "You're bringing that back up?"

"Two separate events, two separate women, both of them involve diving… What's a girl supposed to think?"

"You think Jake is going to be okay?" Sherry's voice cuts the joke between the two in half, drawing their full attention.

Blue feminine eyes flash and Claire slides a little closer to the younger woman, "I'm sure he's fine. The government accepted his terms and he's upholding his end as well. No need to worry, kiddo."

Sherry glares at the woman she's accepted as her mother as Claire ruffles her hair, "So, you haven't talked much about him, you know?"

"Not now, Claire," Sherry takes the glass resting on the table and takes a decent gulp, "so, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm great," she glares at Leon, "aside from finding out my brother was alive but suffering from amnesia and that my best friend in the entire world was declared a traitor, killed the President, and then faked his death."

Leon attempts to interject here, but Claire just smiles and replies, "Though the best surprise of the week was finding out that my daughter is a Secret Agent and has found a guy."

"Claire!" Sherry spins toward the redhead, ready to scream, but then decides to just sit there and blush, "I don't know what's going to happen… I don't care if anything happens, I just want him to be okay…"

Claire smiles wide and leans back toward Leon, "You want to add anything here?"

"Sherry," the Agent smiles and places his glass down on the arm of the recliner, "he'll be fine. Hunnigan is overseeing his time with the D.S.O, B.S.A.A., and Rebecca's Medical Team. He's in the best of hands. Look…"

He meets Sherry's gaze, "It happened, we'll deal with it later when he comes back. For now, we need to celebrate our survival, all of us. For Chris, for Jake, for you, for Helena, for me…"

"And for Piers. Chris deserves that at least…" Claire's eyes darken a bit at the memory that he watches fill her mind.

"It happened, we'll deal with it later?" Sherry repeats the statement, "Is that even healthy?"

It's the redhead who replies this time, "Oh please… Leon has his whiskey, my tea has a bit of bourbon, and yours… Let's just say that's a llllooonnnng Island… Pushing some of the stress off until later is the healthiest thing we'll do today."

 _ **-New Delhi—**_

Leon is brought back to reality by a solid smack across the face by his redheaded compatriot, "Where the fuck have you been?"

"It happened, I'm just dealing with it later, Claire," he nods at her and quickly checks his firearm, finding it loaded and ready, "we need to find Doctor Henry…"

" _ **Sherry, you have a copy? Breaking radio contact to inform you we have located the good doctor on the third level**_ ," DC's voice is a welcome addition, but his message dampens the mood quickly.

The two remaining Raccoon City Survivors trade glances before Claire sighs heavily and presses the transmit button on her com-piece, "Redfield here. Good work, DC. Leon and I are on our way up to you."

"… _ **Understood**_ ," that is all he says and it's enough to convey the message properly.

Claire pulls her handgun from the holster on her hip and winks at Leon, "Well, let's go save the day."

"For Sherry," his voice is darker than he ever remembers hearing it, even after the D.C. incident.

Blue eyes flash beneath crimson locks, "Always…"

The pair break off into a mad sprint, their eyes quickly scanning for threats, working in tandem to safely make it to the nearest elevator. Claire presses the button and drops down next to Leon, aiming her gun down the hall as their transport slowly makes its way down to them. No threats, nothing following, no voices taunting their victory over the blonde girl. Doors open, feet move, and doors close as Leon presses the 'up' button twice to send them to the floor where DC and Nadia have tracked Christine to.

"What are you going to do when we finally get her in front of us?" Claire leans against the wall of the elevator, her eyes obviously judging his state of mind before he even speaks.

One clenched fist is slammed into the doors of the elevator as Leon squeezes the grip of his magnum, "What Sherry would want me to do. She needs to pay for what she's done, every single sin. Every death."

"Punishment for that?" she seems genuinely interested in his train of thought.

Leon's eyes lock with Claire's and he says bluntly, "Death is too good a deal for her."

"Good," the doors open and a gunshot rings out, forcing the two of them to opposite sides of the elevator, "SHIT!"

"Oh! Sorry! We've had a bit of trouble here!" Nadia's voice is frantic but a much-needed voice in their lives right now.

Leon holds a hand up and slowly walks out into the hall, seeing the sniper perched at the end of the hallway behind a couple of flipped desks, "Where is she?"

"DC has her tracked to a room about four or five hallways that way," she points to her own left, "where's the boss?"

Claire turns from the questioning member of Silver Dagger, her arms pulled up close to her chest, "Oh… Well, let's go get this bitch and put her where she belongs."

The trio quickly make their way to the assigned destination, not sharing a single word among them. Leon can feel the urge to ask radiate from Nadia and he is thankful she continuously manages to keep the question down. One more corner is turned and the leaning form of DC greets them, a pretty somber expression on his face.

"Ready to kick in the door?" DC's question is answered by Leon's swift and sudden kick against the lock.

Leon and Claire burst in, guns pointing wildly around the room, but Leon picks up the sound of an exchange between DC and Nadia.

DC sighs heavily and replies, "Oookay. End of the road here, Nadia…"

"Let's hope not. World needs heroes, DC."

11

Leon aims his magnum to the left, with Claire sliding to the right and tracking for headshots if need be, "Christine Henry!"

" _ **Ah, seems we are one person short, did my dear Miss Birkin not make it?**_ " Leon finds himself growling at her blatant lack of respect for the recently deceased, his blood boiling over as he searches the room for the disembodied voice.

" _ **Looking for me? I'm sorry but your hound outside was a little off on his hunt… I'm not there…**_ " there is a bit of silence and sounds of a scuffle before DC's voice comes through the speaker, " _Yeah, I got her… Hiding behind the curtain so to speak… Can we wrap this up and go home? We have a hero to bury…_ "

"Yeah," Claire steps up next to Leon and places a hand on his upper arm, "let's go home…"

11

Leon works with Nadia to set up the facility for implosion as Claire and DC secure the good doctor, track down, and then eventually kill the remain Graboid creatures. He's been silent the entire time, which he notices seems to be okay with the Silver Dagger sniper. She hasn't said much of her own since they started this plastique parade through the lab and he is totally thankful for that, wanting this time to think, gather his thoughts, and calm down. When the facility is sufficiently wired to explode and all creatures accounted for and destroyed, the four agents escort the doctor out as Leon and DC carry a body in a black bag between them.

The main entry tunnel they slid down is the first real obstacle they've faced since Frank, "Any ideas how we are going to get up this?" Claire's hand sinks into the slime and mud.

With a huff, Leon hands the entire bag with Sherry's remains contained within to DC, "Just follow my lead…" and he just starts climbing, using his entire body strength to maintain a solid grip on the tunnel's surface.

It takes a bit of time and some serious stamina, but the secret agent finally drops to level ground and he quickly pulls the length of rope stashed in his side-pouch. Feet planted firmly on each side of the tunnel, Leon tosses the rope down and holds on tight as everyone makes the trek up the tunnel. DC is the last to ascend, noting that he did lash Sherry's black bag to the end of the rope and he helps pull the body up.

From here it's a further uneventful trek out of the tunnel system and out to the twilight sky of New Delhi on the brink of sunset, "We made it, guys… We are going home."

Nadia said it just out of habit, but that doesn't stop Leon from turning and almost pushing her back down the tunnel, "Not all of us made it, Nadia. One of us is going to have to break the news to Jake."

"As entertaining as that idea sounds," Claire can't hide the sarcasm as she stares at the bound form of Doctor Henry, "what are we going to do with her?"

- _ **New York, 2020**_ —

"Yeah, what did become of Christine?" Jake's fists are clenched almost as tight as his jaw as the story winds to its conclusion.

"She is where she needs to be," Rebecca speaks finally, having pieced the whole story together at last, "just like we are all where we need to be. Leon, this wasn't your fault…"

"I chose to save Claire over Sherry…" his fingers dig into the felt of the podium as his eyes are clenched shut.

Chris speaks next, his voice calmer than almost everyone expects it to be, "Then Sherry would be here and Claire would be cremated as we grieve over an empty casket! Choices were made, all we can do is take it in, own it, and move on."

"It's what Sherry would want…" Jake approaches the podium and offers a hand out to the older D.S.O. Agent, "I still absolutely hate you for this, but Sherry would want me to try…"

"Yeah," Leon takes the hand in earnest, "maybe one day I'll finally be worthy of her adoration…"

Awkward silences have never been her thing, so Jill steps up and offers, "Shall we send Miss Birkin off the only way we know how?"

"There isn't any other way to do it…" Chris nods and is the first to step out of the church, followed soon by Rebecca, Jill, Barry, Moira, and finally Jake, leaving Claire and Leon alone in the church.

"Not going to join them?" Leon turns to face the coffin, surprised when the redhead just appears across from him and leans against the coffin itself.

She swipes a few loose strands of red hair from her face and shakes her head, "As fun as getting drunk and going to Chris's homemade shooting range sounds, I don't savor the idea of having to stitch him up because he tries to show off."

"Last time I went, he kept getting pissy because I was beating him every time…" the male absentmindedly taps his thigh as the memory plays for him like it was yesterday.

A light laugh grabs his attention, forcing Leon to arch an eyebrow, "That's only because you drink so much more than him nowadays, your tolerance is higher…"

There's a jab, he's been in Claire's life long enough to know when she's going for the kidneys, "Not so much anymore, Claire. Drinking just quiets the demons, facing them head-on defeats them."

There is a slow and subtle nod from Claire, who finally looks up from the coffin and replies, "I'm glad to see you ar- Leon? What the hell…?"

Resting on the podium is a small note with her name, an address, and a simple message of, "Come visit me before you leave."

"Men…" she pockets the letter, says a final silent prayer for Sherry Birkin, and quickly exits the church.

 _Do not let my death destroy Hope. Let my death become the seed that grows within each of you, where Hope can blossom eternally and live on forever, just like my memory and my story._

 **END**


	10. Epilogue: Super Glue

**Resident Evil: Fractured Promises**

 **Epilogue: Super Glue**

Sherry's casket was buried where the rest of the Umbrella Warriors have been with a solemn service held by the remaining survivors, Jake was of course in attendance, barely. He leaned against a tree on a hill overlooking the dug up earth and people gathered there, watching intently as they said words of love and honor.

Everyone has left already, leaving a couple of members of the cemetery's staff to slowly fill the hole in as rain begins to fall, "Hopefully my trick of dirty details in my letter to you has worked and you are reading this alone. I did not go into whatever mission this was with the intent to die, hell, I'm not even sure it's a mission I died in… Could've been a bike accident because of how bad you drive, or what…"

Jake chuckles and shakes his head before continuing the letter, "Blunt and to the point, right… I'm dead. Don't let my death be the death of you. You have found your redemption, your return to light. Don't carry on because I am dead, in some kind of honor of me, carry on because I lived. You must, Jake. I came from a tainted family, but I turned that into a call to do more, do better, be better. You come from the same kind of tainted family, so heed the call."

The letter is crumbled in his hands as Jake fights the emotions raging within him, but the letter isn't done, he isn't done, "Your goal might be to blame Leon and Claire, because they saved me from Raccoon City, but couldn't save me from falling back into the pit and fighting bioterrorism, or you might see them as directly responsible for my death… That's not the case, ever. I made choices, you made choices, they made choices. We cannot fault another for the choices they make… Assume positive intent, Jake. No matter how dark the outcome, assume the choices were made in the best of ideals."

There it is, the two names he forever will think of in a darker light, but she's right, "I love you Jake. From the moment I woke in that lab in China and far into the afterlife… No matter how dark life gets for you, trudge on and use my love to light the way and guide you home… Now, go fuck something up in my memory and then eat all the apples, pomegranates, and pears you want! Your Sherry Always…"

"Damn it, woman…" Jake knows the rain is hiding the tears, but he still swipes them away and presses the letter back into his inside pocket before hopping on to his motorcycle.

As the key is turned, a voice speaks up, "Jake Muller? I've been sent here to pick you up."

"By who?" he quickly points his handgun at the suit approaching him, "and where?"

"She said you'd probably put up a fight, so I am to show you this…" the piece of paper held out to him causes Jake to turn the engine off and quickly slip into the dark-tinted SUV.

- **Downtown New York** —

Two days late, but the knock on the door causes a familiar face to appear through the crack, "Glad you finally made it here. Come on in."

The two forms step past each other and the female one slowly scratches her upper arm, unsure of what to say. From his stance, she guesses he feels the same way, both of them playing guessing games on where this will go. He offers her a drink, which she politely declines, but does notice that the bottle resting on the table in the hallway is full. The two make their way to his living room, where she immediately notes that it feels more like home than his past few Government-paid apartments.

"So, I'm surprised they haven't sent you on any new missions yet… Isn't this past the two-week limit you usually get for reprieves, Leon?" Claire drops onto the couch and tosses her red leather jacket onto the far arm.

Leon chuckles and holds a hand up to shoo the thought away, "They are the furthest thing from my mind right now and I plan to keep it that way for a while. The world can survive without the blood of Leon Kennedy."

"Don't you mean," she knows this is going to make his skin crawl and she loves it, "Leon S. Kennedy?"

He does not disappoint and the involuntary shake he does makes the younger Redfield smile wide, "You win this round, Redfield… Tea or soda? Water?"

"Actually," blue eyes glance at the bottle of whiskey, "I think I will take that stronger drink…"

The glass is quickly filled and handed to her before Leon takes his own seat in his usual recliner, but with a bottle of water, "You weren't kidding were you about fighting your demons head on?"

"I'm trying to be someone different… I owe it to my liver," he is not subtle about changing that last sentence, but she lets it slide.

Claire stares into the glass, losing herself in the dark-tinted liquid courage, "There aren't many of us left anymore…"

"Nope," Leon spins the cap off the bottle with his thumb and takes a swig, "We're losing more than we are gaining anymore. It almost makes the fight not seem worth it. Your brother and I are on the front lines, tossing grenades at these mother fuckers, while you are behind the scenes in the aftermath, helping those who have lived through it all… We aren't any closer to winning, but we are closer to breaking and falling apart."

"Is there any particular reason you invited me here? Or is this literally just a social call?" the redhead slowly sips the whiskey in front of her, noting that even though he isn't drinking it, the bottle is from his favorite distillery.

"Yeah, there is a reason why I invited you here… I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I-" she cuts him off.

"Dangerous work for a man of your stature…" there is a flash in her eyes that is mimicked by the smirk on her lips.

Leon just takes the hit in stride, apparently not letting her get to him, "I think Sherry is right. We've been doing this dance for years and it's my fault. I do believe all I deserve is Ada's cat-and-mouse games, where she lets me think I'm the cat… That's because I always feared what roots at home would do to me… I've always needed to be fast and agile, but I thought having someone at home would make me misstep or rethink a haphazard plan…"

"Leon…" Claire always felt this talk was coming, for years even, but it's still a shock to hear the words actually being spoken.

He holds up a hand to hold off her remarks, "I've got all my own issues, all my own demons… My life hit a point where I was either drowning in demons, drowning in blood, or drowning in whiskey. I took the latter option more often than not because if I have to suffer, I'd rather pick how I suffer. It hasn't all been bad, though. I've had bright spots break through once in a while… After those days, where I don't feel like I'm suffocating, I have these really unique dreams. I'm running through Raccoon City again, wearing that awful uniform, holding that handgun that could barely kill a zombie, sweating horribly, but then I find a door, that door. I go to open it, but instead raise my gun as it opens on its own. Behind it is this shining light and warmth, guiding me to a safer place, a quieter place. I go, oh God do I go… I reach out, take that hand offered to me, and go into the light…"

Leon shifts uncomfortably, which Claire has to admit, she has never seen him do before, "When I wake up, the first thing I notice is the sun shining, not the usual smell of burnt coffee and an hour-old alarm still going off. These are the mornings where I don't look at the handgun resting on the nightstand and consider… The person who makes the sun shine, who offers me the light, that's you, always has been."

Claire finally realizes she's been holding her breath this whole time and releases it slowly, "I'm… Leon…"

"When I was moving out of the old apartment and into this one, I found a flash drive with Sherry's name on it, but what struck me was what the file said when I opened it, 'For Leon to Think About'. In there was just a song, one single song… Ever hear, "Next to Me" by Imagine Dragons, Claire?" she shakes her head to admit that she hasn't.

Suddenly a song starts to play….

" _Something about the way that you walk into my living room_

 _Casually and confident, lookin' at the mess I am_

 _But still you, still you want me_

 _Stress lines and cigarettes, politics and deficits_

 _Late bills and overages, screamin' and hollerin'_

 _But still you, still you want me_

 _Oh, I always let you down_

 _You're shattered on the ground_

 _But still I find you there_

 _Next to me_

 _And oh, the stupid things I do_

 _I'm far from good, it's true_

 _But still I find you_

 _Next to me…_ "

Claire looks at the man before her as he sits there with his head down and hands clasped together, letting the song speak for him. The song is right, oh so right, but it is wrong in others, as she hasn't always been there next to him. She gave up for the longest time, cast him aside like he did to her so many times before, but her encounter with Alex Wesker on that island made her rethink what was truly important. Not so much Leon, but that everyone has gone through something and needs a good shoulder. Sherry and Leon were her shoulder when she returned, so it was only fair to become his shoulder, to be the one to bandage him up, help him heal, even when Ada would tear him to pieces…

" _There's something about the way that you always see the pretty view_

 _Overlook the bloodied mess, always lookin' effortless_

 _And still you, still you want me_

 _I got no innocence, faith ain't no privilege_

 _I am a deck of cards; vice or a game of hearts_

 _And still you, still you want me_

 _Oh, I always let you down_

 _You're shattered on the ground_

 _But still I find you there_

 _Next to me_

 _And oh, the stupid things I do_

 _I'm far from good, it's true_

 _But still I find you_

 _Next to me…_ "

Claire has fallen in and out of love with Leon so many times that someone could almost make it a drinking game if they knew about it. Leon still hasn't moved, but her keen eyes spot that his knuckles are white, is he trying to keep himself from shaking? Who is this man sitting before her, awaiting her judgement?

" _So, thank you for taking a chance on me_

 _I know it isn't easy_

 _But I hope to be worth it_

 _So, thank you for taking a chance on me_

 _I know it isn't easy_

 _But I hope to be worth it_

 _Oh, I always let you down_

 _You're shattered on the ground_

 _But still I find you there_

 _Next to me_

 _And oh, the stupid things I do_

 _I'm far from good, it's true_

 _But still I find you_

 _Next to me…._ "

The song comes to a close with Claire suddenly standing before Leon, her hands reaching down to separate his arms. She slowly climbs into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist, digging her feet into the cushion of the recliner as she leans down to pull his face up to hers and kiss him softly.

He tastes differently than she remembers, maybe it's the lack of alcohol in his system, but she still finds herself getting as lost in him now as she has every single time their lips have met, "I take it, this is a yes?"

"To what question?" there are many swimming through her mind as she continues to hold him close and kiss him.

Leon pulls back from her, looks around the apartment, and suddenly produces a key, "I asked the government for a new apartment, something a little bigger, something I can share… I'm sorry I'm so broken, I've had a rough life, but you've done so many amazing things for me to keep me together… I'm not worth your time, attention, and love right now, but I'm working to be worthy of having someone as amazing as you in my life…"

"Shut up, Kennedy," she presses a finger to his lips, finding that she needs to talk, "Outside of a few extenuating circumstances, you have always had me. Our lives have taken us in so many different paths away from each other that we have had to fight tooth and nail to remain together like we have… Sherry has wanted us together for as long as we have known the girl and I think her desire for our happiness has shifted fate in our favor finally. Finally I can be what you need and you can free yourself to be what I need…"

He wiggles around her finger long enough to lock gazes with her and asks one simple question that prods her soul for an answer, "What do we need from each other?"

"Everything…" Claire cranes her neck down to kiss the man who has stolen her heart, her soul, and her forever.

As the two fall into each other and begin the life they have both craved for so long, Sherry's letter to them falls off the candle it was perched on, where one last bit of writing has remained hidden until now, "Told you."

-Undisclosed Location—

The order was strange, almost like it was spoken by someone else through the man in the nice suit, but he follows them, especially with the offer of that picture on the table. He stares out the window as the car drives him through the open landscape of northern New York. Strong fingers twirl an apple around his palm and has been doing so since he got into the vehicle and it pulled away from her gravesite. There is a bit of a bump as the car enters an underground garage, Jake cursing himself for not paying better attention to where he is being taken. Life and the D.S.O. trained him better, but here he is, in an unknown location, taken there by unknown people, for a known purpose that might not be true.

"Jake, so glad you could make it, I'm sorry it's not under better circumstances…" a hand is extended to him that he doesn't take.

"Where?" straight to the point, this needs no downtime, no games, no side-stepping.

The older man smiles and nods, stepping aside and pointing to the elevator behind him, "Right this way, Jake."

No other words are exchanged and the mystery man doesn't enter the elevator with him, which suits him just fine. That photograph better be true and real, or this entire building will crumble under his rage and desire for closure. There is only one button on the panel, so it's quickly jabbed and Jake impatiently waits for the trip to be made. He sees Sherry's face in everything, everyone, and everywhere. It blinds him to what could be there, blinds him to hope, blinds him to what she has always wanted him to see.

A punch is sent into the wall, "GOD DAMN IT ALL!"

The fist unclenches and his other hand slams next to it, Jake using the elevator itself to keep him steady. Deep breath, calm composure, and just grit your teeth to get through this. The doors ping and slowly open to reveal a room with only a single chair with a small table next to it and a case resting on top of that. He almost silently crosses the room, only making enough noise to spin the chair around and straddle it.

"Is this what you promised me?" he doesn't know if anyone is listening, doesn't really care either.

Jake's eyes droop to the case resting next to him and with one quick flip of his hand the clasp is undone and the lid is flipped open, "Isn't this interesting?"

Inside is a handgun, but not just any handgun, it's Sherry's Triple-Shot. The weapon is slipped into his right hand and he feels the real weight of it, as well as all of the emotional baggage. Suddenly the lights flicker out and there is a hum like a set of shutters are being opened.

" _Hello?_ " the voice is feminine, foreign, and for some reason it pisses him off to no end.

She can't see him, at least not until one light flashes on above him and then another flashes on above her. Blonde hair that's fading into gray, a face worn by worry lines and stress, and beady little eyes that only read as one thing.

"Christine Henry…" the grip of the gun squeaks as he squeezes it in rage.

The woman perks up, quickly straightens her hair, steps up to the glass, and squints, " _Do, do I know you?_ "

"No, but you know someone I used to love…" he sees the recognition in her eyes and finds himself involuntarily growling at the smile that fills her face.

She steps up to the glass and presses her hands against the bulletproof material, " _You must be the one I saw on the news with Sherry Birkin in China way back when…? Jake, wasn't it? I take it you are here," her eyes drop down to the gun, "with that, to finish her quest?_ "

"Is that what you want me to do? Kill you? Why should you be lucky enough to escape this nightmare while we all remain behind to either suffer unknowingly or suffer alone?" the gun is tapped against the case before it's pointed at Christine.

"It wouldn't do any good… That glass can stop a magnum round no problem," the weapon is lowered down and tapped against the table before it's pointed at Jake's own right temple, "It would do some good here, but again, why should just one person get to escape this nightmare?"

His eyes haven't broken their stare from Christine's own glassy orbs, " _I don't follow you?_ "

"You don't get to ESCAPE!" Jake fires a burst into the glass, the bullets ricocheting off, leaving only white scratches from the impact.

The former mercenary points the gun under his chin and pulls the trigger, but the weapon just clicks empty, "None of us get to escape!"

The gun slams into the glass from his throw, his eyes burning with sorrow and rage, "No escape from the pain, the loss, the death… No, you don't get to escape…"

He quickly stands up from the chair, turns from her one last time, and slowly exits the room as her screams are hidden by the closing elevator doors, " _What does that mean!? Hello!?_ "

The man who pointed him toward the elevator is still standing in the exact same spot, "Did you find what you were promised?"

"Will she be taken care of?" the words are dry.

"Yes. Regular meals, some entertainment of sorts, but she will never see the outside again," the reply breaks something inside Jake, something that needed to be broken.

"Good," he climbs back into the SUV and nods at the driver, "Sherry wouldn't want me to give up hope…"

As the vehicle pulls away, Jake closes his eyes, _Hope that she'll live the long life Sherry should have gotten… Hope that she'll suffer her long days of solitude… Hope that one day she will ask for forgiveness and there will be no one left to give it to her…_

 **END**


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